A Formal & Contextual Analysis of the Baptistere of St. Louis
By Cesar Sanchez and Hamida Rani The Wandering Basin: The Baptistere of St. Louis is a brass basin with an origin shrouded in mystery. What is known is that the basin, made by Mamluk artisan Mohammed ibn al-Zain from about 1320-1340, somehow ended up in France, in which it was used to baptize children of the royal family and given the name, the Baptistere of St. Louis. At the time the basin was made, the Mamluks where a prominent and dominating political power. During this time, a large amount of art was made under the Mamluk Empire. The basin, which is made out of bronze has silver inlays which make up the majority of the shapes, which include animals and people. It possesses gold inlays as well which are used to outline and segment the different sections of the basin into different bands of figures illustrating a story, as well as outlining different roundels in the bands. The basin that mysteriously appeared in France shows us just not just how extravagant a...