rim above and in the image field, can be read in chronological sequence: John the Baptist preaching to four figures, the last on the right in full military gear; followed by a fig tree. John baptising two neophytes, with two further figures to the right, who probably represent the two disciples John told to follow Jesus (John 1:35–37). As often in Early Medieval art, the attempt to convey the River Jordan stretching away in perspective has it rise up like a mound. A palm tree follows. The Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, a commonly represented scene, again with the water piling up like a mound. Jesus is beardless and young, as is also typical. The angel to the right of Jesus has his hands veiled with a cloth, a mark of respect in Eastern liturgy, though it may also simply represent a cloth ready for Jesus to dry himself with. An olive tree follows. Saint Peter baptising Cornelius the Centurion, the first gentile to be baptised (Acts 10), with a sponsor or godfather. The Hand of God appears from above to signal approval. Saint John the Evangelist baptising the "philosopher Craton", also with a sponsor and Hand. A vine follows. The story of Craton comes from apocryphal writings such as the account of John's life by the Pseudo-Abdias. Except for the last two the scenes are separated by trees which are stylised in typical Romanesque fashion, but whose leaf shapes are all different. A continuous undulating ground-line runs all round the basin. Other inscriptions run round the top and bottom rims of the basin. While the baptism of Jesus is very commonly depicted in Early Medieval art, those of the other figures are very rare subjects indeed, and this unusually elaborate and learned programme was no doubt composed with clerical assistance. It does not reflect Byzantine iconographic precedents; instead it matches closely the interest in typology and allegory, of which the influential contemporary Liège-born theologian Rupert of Deutz was a particular exponent (though Rupert was also a particular opponent of the bishop at the time, Otbert of Liège, who took the Emperor's side in the Investiture Controversy). The head of God the Father that appears at the top of the Baptism of Christ (identified as PATER) is an early appearance of God the Father in Western art; a Hand of God, more typical of the period, appears in