Choir Stalls of Saint Benoît sur Loire, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in warm browns and tan, lettered "STALLES en bois sculpte (XVe Siècle) de l'Eglise de Saint Benoît sur Loire." The plate shows a row of stalls in front view, three complete with parts of two more at the edges. Cusped ogee arches run along the top, their spandrels carved with foliage, a grinning face and a small winged figure. Tall plain back panels are divided by slender shafts, above a band of quatrefoil diaper. Below come the armrests and the seats, two of them tipped up to show the carved brackets of the misericords, one formed as a face, with the lower panels and plinth in deep shadow.

The caption translates as "stalls in carved wood (fifteenth century) of the church of Saint Benoît sur Loire." The running head reads "AMEUBLEMENT RELIGIEUX Pl. XIII." The credits read "Rivaud del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier." and "Kellerhoven lith.", with Séré's direxit line 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 thirteen of the section on church furniture.

The strong verticals and restrained palette make it a quiet, architectural picture for a hallway or study.

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