Carved Wooden Lectern at Aosta, Fifteenth Century, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in brown and gold tones with touches of red, lettered "(XVe SIÈCLE.) PUPITRE EN BOIS SCULPTÉ. à Aoste." The lectern is shown twice, from two sides. On the left the sloping desk carries a large closed book with gilt corner pieces and a central boss, red ribbon markers hanging below; under the desk a small carved figure plays the bagpipes. The stand is triangular, its faces carved with Gothic blind arcading, pierced ogee arches and crockets, with pinnacles at the corners and a curved base. On the right the desk is seen from behind, its back pierced with tracery, the piper figure facing out.

The caption translates as "(fifteenth century) lectern in carved wood, at Aosta." The running head reads "AMEUBLEMENT RELIGIEUX PL. XI.", church furniture. The credits read "Henri Dufresne, del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier à Paris" and "Kellerhoven, lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" beneath the caption.

Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, edited the text, and Ferdinand Séré directed the illustrations, which is why his name and the word direxit stand beneath every plate. The work surveys the manners, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, and its chromolithographed plates record objects held around 1850 in churches, museums and private collections. This plate is from the fourth volume, dated 1851, plate eleven of the section on church furniture.

The double view makes a balanced composition for a single frame.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.