Gloucestershire, 4 in Berkshire and Kent, 3 in Norfolk, Oxford and Sussex, 1 in Derby, Dorset, Lincoln, Somerset, Surrey and Wiltshire); perhaps the finest examples are at Ashover, Derbyshire, and Walton, Surrey. Early English fonts are comparatively rare. They bear the moulding, foliage and tooth ornament in the usual style of the period. A good example of an Early English font is at All Saints, Leicester; others may be seen at St Giles’, Oxford, and at Lackford, Suffolk. Fonts of the Decorated period are commoner, but not so frequent as those of the preceding Norman or subsequent Perpendicular periods. Fonts of the Perpendicular period are very common, and are generally raised upon steps and a lofty stem, which, together with the body of the font, are frequently richly ornamented with panelling. It was also the custom during this period to ornament the font with shields and coats of arms and other heraldic insignia, as at Herne, Kent. The fonts of this period, however, are as a rule devoid of interest, and, like most Perpendicular work, are stiff and monotonous. There is, however, a remarkable font, with sculptured figures, belonging to the late 14th century, at West Drayton in Middlesex.
In Holyrood chapel there was a brazen font in which the royal children of Scotland were baptized. It was carried off in 1544 by Sir R. Lea, and given by him to the church at St Albans, but was afterwards destroyed by the Puritans. A silver font existed at Canterbury, which was sometimes brought to Westminster on the occasion of a royal baptism. At Chobham, Surrey, there is a leaden font covered with oaken panels of the 16th century. The only existing structure at all recalling the ancient baptisteries in English churches is found at Luton in Bedfordshire. The font at Luton belongs to the Decorated style, and is enclosed in an octagonal structure of freestone, consisting of eight pillars about 25 ft. in height, supporting a canopy. The space around the font is large enough to hold twelve adults comfortably. At the top of the canopy is a vessel for containing the consecrated water, which when required was let down into the font by means of a pipe.
In 1236 it was ordered by Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, that baptismal fonts should be kept under lock and key, as a precaution against sorcery:—“Fontes baptismales sub sera clausi teneantur propter sortilegia.” The lids appear at first to have been quite simple and flat. They gradually, however, partook of the ornamentation of the font itself, and are often of pyramidal and conical forms, highly decorated with finials, crockets, mouldings and grotesques. Sometimes these covers are very heavy and are suspended by chains to enable them to be raised at will. Very rich font covers may be seen at Ewelme, Oxon; St Gregory, Sudbury; North Walsingham, Norfolk; Worlingworth, Suffolk. The ordinary position of the font in the church was and is near the entrance, usually to the left of the south door.
See Arcisse de Caumont, Cours d’antiquités monumentales (Paris, 1830–1843); Francis Simpson, A Series of Antient Baptismal Fonts (London, 1828); Paley, Ancient Fonts; E. E. Viollet-le-Duc, Dict. raisonné de l’architecture (1858–1868), vol. v.; J. H. Parker’s Glossary of Architecture; Francis Bond, Fonts and Font-Covers (London, 1908). A large number of fine illustrations of fonts, principally of the earlier periods, will be found in the volumes of the Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist. (R. A. S. M.)
FONTAINE, PIERRE FRANÇOIS LÉONARD (1762–1853),
French architect, was born at Pontoise on the 20th of September
1762. He came of a family several of whose members had distinguished
themselves as architects. Leaving the college of
Pontoise at the age of sixteen he was sent to L’Isle-Adam to
assist in hydraulic works undertaken by the architect André.
To facilitate his improvement André allowed him to have access
to his plans and to copy his designs. In October 1779 he was
sent to Paris to study in the school of Peyre the younger, and
there began his acquaintance with Percier, which ripened into
a life-long friendship. After six years of study he competed
for a prize at the Academy, and, winning the second for the plan
of an underground chapel, he received a pension and was sent
to Rome (1785). Percier accompanied him. The Revolution
breaking out soon after his return to France, he took refuge in
England; but after the establishment of the consulate he was
employed by Bonaparte, to whom he had been introduced by
the painter, David, to restore the palace of Malmaison. Henceforth
he was fully engaged in the principal architectural works
executed in Paris as architect successively to Napoleon I.,
Louis XVIII. and Louis Philippe. In conjunction with Percier
(till his death) he was employed on the arch of the Carrousel,
the restoration of the Palais-Royal, the grand staircase of the
Louvre, and the works projected for the union of the Louvre and
the Tuileries. In 1812 he was admitted a member of the Academy
of Fine Arts, and in 1813 was named first architect to the
emperor. With Percier he published the following works—Palais,
maisons, et autres édifices de Rome moderne (1802);
Descriptions de cérémonies et de fêtes (1807 and 1810); Recueil
de décorations intérieures (1812); Choix des plus célèbres maisons
de plaisance de Rome et des environs (1809–1813); Résidences
des souverains, Parallèle (1833). L’histoire du Palais-Royal was
published by Fontaine alone, who lost Percier, his friend and
associate, in 1838, and himself died in Paris on the 10th of
October 1853.
FONTAINEBLEAU, a town of northern France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Seine-et-Marne, 37 m. S.E.
of Paris on the railway to Lyons. Pop. (1906) 11,108. Fontainebleau,
a town of clean, wide and well-built streets, stands in the
midst of the forest of Fontainebleau, nearly 2 m. from the left
bank of the Seine. Of its old houses, the Tambour mansion, and
a portion of that which belonged to the cardinal of Ferrara,
both of the 16th century, are still preserved; apart from the
palace, the public buildings are without interest. A statue of
General Damesme (d. 1848) stands in the principal square, and a
monument to President Carnot was erected in 1895. Fontainebleau
is the seat of a subprefect and has a tribunal of first
instance and a communal college. The school of practical
artillery and engineering was transferred to Fontainebleau from
Metz by a decree of 1871, and now occupies the part of the palace
surrounding the cour des offices.
Fontainebleau has quarries of sand and sandstone, saw-mills, and manufactories of porcelain and gloves. Fine grapes are grown in the vicinity. The town is a fashionable summer resort, and during the season the president of the Republic frequently resides in the palace. This famous building, one of the largest, and in the interior one of the most sumptuous, of the royal residences of France, lies immediately to the south-east of the town. It consists of a series of courts surrounded by buildings, extending from W. to E.N.E.; they comprise the Cour du Cheval Blanc or des Adieux (thus named in memory of the parting scene between Napoleon and the Old Guard in 1814), the Cour de la Fontaine, the Cour Ovale, built on the site of a more ancient château, and the Cour d’ Henri IV.: the smaller Cour des Princes adjoins the northern wing of the Cour Ovale. The exact origin of the palace and of its name (Lat. Fons Bleaudi) are equally unknown, but the older château was used in the latter part of the 12th century by Louis VII., who caused Thomas Becket to consecrate the Chapelle St Saturnin, and it continued a favourite residence of Philip Augustus and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I., under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance, and the Salle des Fêtes, which, in the reign of Henry II., was decorated by the Italians, Francesco Primaticcio and Nicolo dell’ Abbate, and is perhaps the finest Renaissance chamber in France. The Galerie de François I. and the lower storey of the left wing of the Cour de la Fontaine are the work of the same architect, who also rebuilt the two-storeyed Chapelle St Saturnin. In the same reign the Cour du Cheval Blanc, including the Chapelle de la Ste Trinité and the Galerie d’Ulysse, destroyed and rebuilt under Louis XV., was constructed by Pierre Chambiges. After Francis I., Fontainebleau owes most to Henry IV., to whom are due the Cour d’ Henri IV., the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane, and Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. Louis XIII. built the graceful horseshoe staircase in the Cour du Cheval Blanc; Napoleon I. spent 12,000,000 francs
