Launch of Baptisteria Sacra Index: An Iconographical Index of Baptismal Fonts (BSI)
The first public launch with full access to the digital project, Baptisteria Sacra Index: An Iconographical Index of Baptismal Fonts (BSI), is now hosted at the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC). Principal Investigators at Canadian Universities are now eligible to apply for support (at no cost) at DRAC.
BSI was started in 1997 to address the large corpus of material that I was analysing for my thesis, so I began a relational database (ACCESS Microsoft). It gradually grew, and has been modified many times, as on-site work started to include Miguel and the scope quickly grew – we went from camping in a tent and dreaming of a Westphalia van – as BSI expanded its scope. Over the years, Miguel developed an international network of ‘fonters’ who have also been providing invaluable contributions from around the world (they are credited on the records). Images are available when we have copyright permission.
These historical vessels often had a past – we have discovered ablution vessels, little-known Roman altars, Roman sarcophagi and other metal works converted and repurposed by communities over the centuries – to objects they want to either retain connections with or simply reuse for practical reasons. 98% of these historical vessels are not in museums, they remain in settlements and communities today – often in unprotected areas, such as outside (cemetery, local farmyard, garden, etc).
As of May 2025 we have documented, with the assistance of Miguel Torrens' wide international network, approx. 25,857 objects, their settings and 1,867 different inscriptions, everything from Arabic to Runes. BSI is a living work-in-progress project with works dated from the 2nd century through to the 17th century which reflect the historical changes communities have gone through. Today, BSI is an SQL database with Restful APIs, controlled vocabulary – we are currently adding links to open data behind the scenes (Wikidata, Iconclass, etc.) and working to obtain a DOI for the project. BSI documents vessels from around the world – we add material as it becomes available.
A second launch with ‘fixits’, updated metadata and hopefully, mapping options, is planned for the end of August.
