Baptisteria Sacra: An Iconographic Index of Baptismal Fonts

The Baptisteria Sacra Index (BSI) is an in-process, iconographic index of baptismal fonts from the early Christian period to the seventeenth century chiefly from Europe, but including representative samples from North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America as well. Thirty-two countries are currently represented in the BSI database with a total of 6,400 individual font records. The target of this Index is the research community at large, more specifically: art historians, historians, liturgists, epigraphists, etc.

Bibliographic sources are used in the preparation of the initial record. The project works closely with other scholars working in this field to maintain up-to-date research and documentation on the font sites. Annual research trips, systematically focused on specific areas and works, provide further up-to-date documentation on the baptismal fonts, which is catalogued and added to each font record. Each font record in the BSI database aims to include the following fields for public viewing and searching: location (name of church or museum, inventory number, region, country and physical placement, provenance, medium, type of font, condition, general symbolic shape, type of drainage system, dimensions, inscription information, information about accompanying accessories, descriptive sections on the font, geographic directions to site and full bibliographic references. Full ornamentation of each font is meticulously recorded. The motifs, figures and scenes ornamenting each font are photographed, identified and organized according to general guidelines established by the Iconclass Classification System and digitized for web viewing. Each font visited in situ is extensively photographed.

The presentation will address issues of data organisation, storage and archive, as well as distribution, relevance, update and issues of copyright.