PULPIT
564
PXTLPIT
tance and affected its position, is not known. The
pulpit is often connected with the appearance of the
mendicant friars, but this can refer only to some in-
novations in its use and some external changes, as
the Fathers of the Church had long before this con-
stantly used the ambo for preaching. Although Paul
of Samosata (Euseb., VII, xxx) spoke to the people
from a high canopied seat in the apse, Socrates (Hist,
eccl., VI, v) says of St. Chrysostom that he preached
"sitting on the ambo". Sozomen (Hist, eccl., IX, ii)
states the same, still characterizing the ambo as fivf"^ ■"
dra7>'w<rTu>'. Chrysostom was the first to speak from
the ambo "in ordcrtobe better understood"; Isidore
of Seville first employed the word pulpit (Etym., XVI,
iv), then "tribu-
nal", because
from this the
I'lii'st gave the
precepts for the
cmiduct of life",
proclaiming law
and justice. Isi-
dore also derives
" a nalogium "
from \6yos, as
"the addresses
were given" from
it. Thus the ambo
became the reg-
ular place for the
preacher, and its
situation was de-
pendent on local
conditions. In the
Church of St.
Sophia it stood
under the dome
(Paul the Silen-
tiary, P. G.,
LXXXVI, 2259 sqq.), but was united with the choir
"like an island with the mainland". Similarly at
Ravenna the ambo of Bishop Agnellus (sixth century)
stood in the central aisle of the nave, on the inner side
of the old chancel screen. In large churches, therefore,
the bishops, e. g. Ambrose, .\ugustine, and Paulinus of
Nola, preached from the ambo at a very early date.
The desire to be more plainly understood was the
reason why the preacher's platform was pushed
towards the centre of the nave; which change led to
its assuming the present form. It was not until
modern times that the two terms attained clearly
distinct meanings. At present the pulpit no longer
serves for the reading of the Epistles and Gospels, nor
as the tribune for singing, hence the eagle or dove
formerly used as support of the book now has little
meaning. A position in which the preacher could be
heard throughout the church became necessary, and
the pulpit was t hen adapted to receive a greater amount
of adornment, having reference to the preaching of
the Gospel.
The number of ambos still in existence which may be included among pulpits is undetermined. The ambo of Salonica, traditionally called " Paul's pulpit ", appears to be the oldest remaining monument of this kind (fourth to sixth century). It is circular in form, about four metres in circumference, with two stair- ways, for ascending and descending, and is orna- mented with car\ang3 of the three Magi set in niches representing a shell; two ornamental bands are carried around above the niches ("Archives des missions Bcientifiques", III. 1876). Bishop Agnellus, builder of the ambo of the cathedral at Ravenna (sixth cen- tury), called it pyrgus, or tower-like structure. The exterior surface of the round middle part and the steps which come far forward on the sides have panels ar- ranged like a chess-board in six parallel bands filled with symbolic animals: fish, ducks, doves, deer, pea-
cocks, and lambs in regular succession. Owing to
the aversion of Byzantine art of that period to de-
lineating the human figure, animals are here presented
in symbolical dependence on the words: "Preach
the Gospel to every creature". The ambo of St.
Sophia was adorned with flowers and trees. The
beautiful pulpit in the cathedral at .\achen was, ac-
cording to the inscription, a present from Emperor
Henry II (d. 1024). The ground-plan consists of
three unequal segments of a circle. 'The wooden core
is covered with sheets of copper overlaid with gold.
Of the fifteen flat surfaces formed by slightlj' sunken
panels, six contain ivory carvings belonging to an
earlier period, and the others, precious stones, cups
of rock-crystal, and enamels. There is no explanation
as to what this was intended to represent : with large
generosity the emperor had given whatever he had
that was costly for the house of God. St. Bernard
preached from this pulpit, and also from the pulpit
preserved in the cathedral of Reims. In that era
there were many wooden pulpits which were movable
wherever occasion required.
In many places the pulpit was made a part of the rood-loft, which was a gallery or loft of wood or stone, existing as early as the eleventh century and used, instead of the cancelli, to separate the choir from the nave; it was called the lectoriutn, or odeum, as the loft where the singers were, and doiale from the singing of the doxologies. Statues of the Saviour and His Apostles, representing the Last Judgment and the Passion, frequently ornamented the rood-loft on the side towards the nave. At Weehselburg in Saxony a Romanesque pulpit from the beginning of the thir- teenth century is still in existence; it probably be- longed, together with the celebrated altar cross, to the partially preserved rood-loft, which, with a few others of that period, is still to be found. It is orna- mented with well-executed reliefs, and rests on ar- cades and columns. In the central oval panel, or mandorla, there is a relief of Christ as teacher, sur- rounded by the symbols of the Evangelists; on either side are Mary and John trampling upon allegorical symbols of error. The other reliefs, viz., the sacrifices of Abel and .\braham and the Brazen Serpent, were chosen with reference to the cross and altar in the rood-loft, redemption by Christ's sacrificial death being a main topic of preaching. From the thirteenth century, rood-lofts were customary in France where they were called jube from the formula, Juhe Domine benedicere. Those still in existence be- long to the Renaissance period. Pulpits like those of the present time were built in Italy as early as the thirteenth century. The pulpit at Pisa, completed by Xiccola Pisano in 1260, is an unattached structure resting on seven columns, which opened the way to a new development for Italian sculpture. In addition to what is palpably borrowed from antiquity, e. g. the Virgin as Juno, there are figures taken entirely from the life of the time. Instead of the mosaic, six bas-reliefs surround the breastwork: the Annuncia- tion, Nativitj', Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Crucifixion, and the Last Judgment; they present the main contents of the doctrine of sal- vation. Between the tref oiled arches of the columns over the capitals, in the spandrels, are symbolical representations of the virtues and figures of the proph- ets. An allegorical meaning should also be attributed to the lion, griffin, and dog, which, together ^\nth three figures of men, ornament the seventh or middle col- umn, and to the lions that carry three of the supports, or stand guard on the steps. The ornamentation of the cathedral pulpit of Siena was executed by the same master in a similar manner. It forms, however, an octagon, thus permitting two more large reliefs which represent the slaughter of the children at Beth- lehem and further details of the Last Judgment. A third work of the same character, containing figiires
