Font

[Lat. fons, a fountain; Fr. font. See FOUNT.] A fountain; a source; a spring. -A large basin or stone ve el, in which water is contene for baptizing children or adults at the church: as, "the presenting of children at the holy font is by their godfathers." an ( Eccl . Hist .) A stone ve el in the form of a large bowl or basin, resting on a pedestal, and used for the reception of water required in the administration of the sacrament of baptism. The pedestal is perforated to receive a pipe, by which the consecrated water may be carried off at the conclusion of the ceremony. The proper position for the font is at the west end of the church, opposite the principal porch or entrance, which is to be found most frequently on the south side of the nave in parish churches, though in some instances it is situated on the north. Baptism was administered in the early churches in a part that was separated from the nave for that special purpose by a party-wall or screen, or in a building that was entirely distinct from the church itself. These were called baptisteries (see BAPTISTERY), and contained a marble basin of great size in the centre, in which the candidate for baptism was subjected to total immersion. Subsequently, when this practice, which must have been attended with considerable danger in cold climates, particularly to infants, was abandoned for that of sprinkling those who were brought to be baptized with a few drops of water only, the font was introduced to take the place of the large laver of the baptistery although it was still sufficiently large to admit of the total immersion of an infant, should this be desired by its parents. It was not then so nece ary to have a distinct building in which the font might be placed, or to have a portion of the church separated from the rest for its reception; and it was therefore put in the body of the building, at the lower end of the nave. Examples occur, however, in some of the cathedrals and old churches, in which the font is placed in a baptistery divided from the body of the building; and in many of the modern ecclesiastical structures it has been placed in inclosure formed by low walls, or in a chamber especially designed and constructed for it in the basement of the belfry tower. The fonts that were placed in churches built in the early Norman style were generally circular or square, supported on a short but ma ive pedestal, cylindrical in form. In some examples of square fonts, the lower corners of the block are cut away in such a manner that the faces of the sides a ume the form of a semicircle. The bowl itself, and sometimes the stem, was often adorned with sculptured figures, scroll-work, or interlaced fret-work. The fonts of the three periods of Gothic architecture are more frequently octagonal in form, and more richly carved with figures and emblems placed in sunken panels or niches, and the angles of the pedestal are adorned with buttre es. They are also generally raised on a platform, formed of two oг three steps. Those of the Perpendicular, or third Pointed style, were generally surmounted by a lofty octagonal canopy in the form of a spire (Fig. 1043), which was formed of wood, and magnificently carved and embellished with crockets at the angles, and a rich finial at the summit. This custom of covering fonts originated about 1250, in an order that was i ued to the clergy to provide covers for these ve els, which were to be kept locked. In a few churches the fonts are made of leads cast in a mould; 1; many of these are covered with figures in bas-relief. They are supposed to have been executed by workmen of no ordinary skill about the beginning of the 12th century.