column against which the pulpit is constructed. It is formed of marble brackets separated from one another and fitted into the column spirally. The effect is wonderfully graceful.
The pulpit in the Baptistery at Pisa is entirely isolated; it is supported by seven columns, three of which have lions for bases. It dates from 1260. There is a pulpit at Pistoja, of the sixteenth century, which is borne on a single column.
It is only from the Middle Ages onward that the pulpit proper, forming an independent structure in the interior of the church, is seen in France. It is to the same period also that the external pulpits of certain churches and cemeteries are to be referred. These were generally set against the wall and were approached either by lateral stairways or by a flight of steps pierced in the wall and communicating with the interior of the edifice (Figure 4).
As an example of pulpits resting on the ground, dating from the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, we give that of Strasburg, constructed in 1486 after
the designs of Johann Hammerer (Figure 5). Such pulpits necessarily obstruct the nave. The efforts of Renaissance architects were therefore directed to the solution of the problem of suspending the preacher’s desk in the air. They did nothing more, however, than copy the pulpits of certain religious communities, which were corbelled out from a wall, behind which the stairway of access was built. A fine example of these may be seen in the refectory of Saint Martin-des-Champs at Paris. The stairway here is even made in the thickness of the wall. In the Church of Santa Cruz at Coimbra, Portugal, there is a corbelled pulpit, which is reproduced in Figure 6.
Renaissance artists, as we have said, imitated these examples, and they even boldly suspended their structures from one of the pillars of the nave. The problem of disposing of the stairway became more and more difficult. Benedetto de Majano solved it by cutting the pillar clear through to give place for the steps. But as the construction was weakened by this process and by the weight of the overhanging pulpit, it was necessary to have recourse to various artifices to secure solidity. The employment of lighter material than stone of course soon suggested itself. Wood came into use, especially in northern countries where marble was scarce, and, as it could be easily
worked, the Renaissance and later periods have left us some genuine masterpieces of wood sculpture in pulpit architecture, fine specimens of which may be seen at Antwerp, at Brussels,
Fig. 7. Pulpit in tlie Church of Sainte Gudule, Brussels.
and at Paris in the Church of Saint Etienne-du-Mont (Figures 7, 8). It is noticeable that as soon as wood was adopted the
Fig. 8. Pulpit in Saint Etienne-du-Mont, Paris.
projection of the pulpit at once assumed an exaggerated boldness, especially in the sounding-board. Iron was also employed, as at Burgos; there was likewise an iron pulpit in the abbey
Fig. 6. Pulpit in the Church of Santa Cruz at Coimbra, Portugal.
The pulpit in the Baptistery at Pisa is entirely isolated; it is supported by seven columns, three of which have lions for bases. It dates from 1260. There is a pulpit at Pistoja, of the sixteenth century, which is borne on a single column.
It is only from the Middle Ages onward that the pulpit proper, forming an independent structure in the interior of the church, is seen in France. It is to the same period also that the external pulpits of certain churches and cemeteries are to be referred. These were generally set against the wall and were approached either by lateral stairways or by a flight of steps pierced in the wall and communicating with the interior of the edifice (Figure 4).
As an example of pulpits resting on the ground, dating from the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, we give that of Strasburg, constructed in 1486 after
the designs of Johann Hammerer (Figure 5). Such pulpits necessarily obstruct the nave. The efforts of Renaissance architects were therefore directed to the solution of the problem of suspending the preacher’s desk in the air. They did nothing more, however, than copy the pulpits of certain religious communities, which were corbelled out from a wall, behind which the stairway of access was built. A fine example of these may be seen in the refectory of Saint Martin-des-Champs at Paris. The stairway here is even made in the thickness of the wall. In the Church of Santa Cruz at Coimbra, Portugal, there is a corbelled pulpit, which is reproduced in Figure 6.
Renaissance artists, as we have said, imitated these examples, and they even boldly suspended their structures from one of the pillars of the nave. The problem of disposing of the stairway became more and more difficult. Benedetto de Majano solved it by cutting the pillar clear through to give place for the steps. But as the construction was weakened by this process and by the weight of the overhanging pulpit, it was necessary to have recourse to various artifices to secure solidity. The employment of lighter material than stone of course soon suggested itself. Wood came into use, especially in northern countries where marble was scarce, and, as it could be easily
worked, the Renaissance and later periods have left us some genuine masterpieces of wood sculpture in pulpit architecture, fine specimens of which may be seen at Antwerp, at Brussels,
Fig. 7. Pulpit in tlie Church of Sainte Gudule, Brussels.
and at Paris in the Church of Saint Etienne-du-Mont (Figures 7, 8). It is noticeable that as soon as wood was adopted the
Fig. 8. Pulpit in Saint Etienne-du-Mont, Paris.
projection of the pulpit at once assumed an exaggerated boldness, especially in the sounding-board. Iron was also employed, as at Burgos; there was likewise an iron pulpit in the abbey
Fig. 6. Pulpit in the Church of Santa Cruz at Coimbra, Portugal.