Baptismal font of Prince Višeslav

[4] In early 1940s, Archbishop of Zagreb Aloysius Stepinac wrote to Patriarch of Venice Adeodato Giovanni Piazza, but couldn't be gifted without state Kingdom of Italy approval, so wrote to Independent State of Croatia minister Mile Budak, and in July 1941 Stepinac was informed that was accepted exchange with two paintings of Vittore Carpaccio from the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters, and font arrived in May 1942 to Zagreb.

[1][5] From then on and long after the World War II, the font stood in the atrium of the Palace of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the state's capital, Zagreb.

The bottom, longer arm of the cross stands on a leg, also filled with tilted furrows, as if wrapped in a cord, which tapers off.

[1][10] Another set of dispute regarding the dating was identification of two historical personalities mentioned on the font, duke "Vuissasclavo" and presbyter "Iohannes" who was a donator.

[12][10] The context of time and space of Slavic and Latin cultural, religious and historical worlds, and amount of stone monuments with Latin epigraphy, points only to the Eastern Adriatic Slavs (from Southern Pannonia to Croatia up to Boka Kotorska in coastal Montenegro), and specifically Croatian cultural area.

[1] Additional support to it would be reliable descriptions of the apostolic visitors in 1499, by A. Valieri in 1579, M. Priuli in 1603, and F. de Grassis in 1670 mentioning a large stone baptismal vessel/font (magnum lapideum coopertum, baptisterium in quadam capella a parte sinistra altaris maioris quod reperit indecens in modum cisterne, fons baptismalis in Sacristia cathedralis) in the Cathedral of Nin.

[11][12] However, the Anonim Filippi's report itself was written many years after the demolition, the description doesn't correspond completely to the font (but the mentioned stemma could be a reference to column capitals with volutes which are stemma-like[11]), and archaeological excavations gave indeterminate results,[1] but new 2014 archaeological excavation indicate that the original location was in the baptistery of Church of St. Asel in the city of Nin, which was presumably used until early 16th century, when was moved to the Chapel of St. Ambroz which would be described by later reports.

[10][8] Scholars suppose that the font's stonecarvers workshop was of local origin,[12] possibly of Benedictine order which made several monuments during the time of duke Branimir.

[11][1] According to the writing of Friuli erudite Federico Altan published in 1749, the six side baptismal font was partially built into the wall of the Capuchin monastery of Il Redentore in Venice, however that does not prove its location before 1746-1749 and that was not before that in Nin, but does not disapprove it either.

[10][13] In 2023, Croatian historian Mirjana Matijević-Sokol characterized Komatina's paper as ostensibly serious, but based on the preponderance of available indications concluded it's more likely that the font came from area of Nin, Croatia.