Baptistery of Saint Louis

About

The Baptistery of Saint Louis is an Islamic art object, made of hammered brass, decorated with silver, gold, and black paste. It was produced in the Syrian-Egyptian area, during the Mamluk dynasty by the dinandier Muhammad ibn al-Zayn. It is probably one of the most famous and enigmatic Islamic objects in the world, currently kept in the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum under inventory number LP 16. Despite his usual name, he had no connection with the king of France Louis IX, known as Saint Louis (r. 1226 - 1270).

History: The conditions for ordering and manufacturing the object remain unknown, as well as the date and context of its arrival in France. It is said Baptistery of Saint Louis because it was believed that he had been brought back from crusade by Saint Louis. If it does not appear on the inventory of Charles V's assets drawn up before 1380, it is mentioned around 1440 in an unpublished inventory of the treasure of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes. On September 14, 1606, it was used for the baptism of the future Louis XIII.

The trace of the Baptistery is found several times during the 18th century: first of all in...