A SPLENDID PULPIT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 174, 28 July 1876, Page 15

A SPLENDID PULPIT.

lie the Belgian section of the main building of the Centennial Exhibition is a great pulpit in carved wood, from the ateliers of Goyers Freres of Louvain. It is sixteen feet high, including the soundingboard or canopy, and is composed of no less than eighty pieces. The body is the half of a polygonal figure of ten sides, and therefore presents five faces. Each of these is adorned witna curved pointed arch. In the panels thus formed are five groups in high relief. First is the marriage of Mary and Joseph ; then come in due order the Annunciation, the welcome given by Elizabeth to the Virgin, " Hail, thou art highly favored," the flight into Egypt, and a crowned figure placing a crown upon the head of the half-kneeling Virgin. In front of the pillars of each arch, there is a projection which serves as a base to religious figures, which are fully in harmony with the subject, although evidently belonging to a later date. The pedestals of these figures curve back boldly underneath as brackets, uniting with the tops of the pilasters that form the base. Between these pilasters are narrow, lanceolated panels, beautifully carved with leaves and berries, but unhappily the carving is identical in each panel, which is a high artistic fault. The capitals of the pilasters are more varied and are formed of different flowers and leaves. The forepart of the canopy is supported by pillars which rest upon the sides of the pulpit, the doorway of entrance being within the pillars. The cornice of the canopy is very richly carved with leaves and berries, and the ceiling is painted with rich colors on a gold ground in the Byzantine style. The effect is very fine. The three cases that follow are all filled with window glass engraved and stained, and in the rear is a most enormous plate, glass mirror of oval form, which makes the human figure exceeding incon•picioui in the vast area of its reflections. It is framed in red velvet with ornaments, and its pondrous weight is supported by a stout wooden arrangement.