Pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin pulpitum (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accessed by steps, with sides coming to about waist height. From the late medieval period onwards, pulpits have often had a canopy known as the sounding board or abat-voix above and sometimes also behind the speaker, normally in wood. Though sometimes highly decorated, this is not purely decorative, but can have a useful acoustic effect in projecting the preacher's voice to the congregation below. Most pulpits have one or more book-stands for the preacher to rest his bible, notes or texts upon.
The pulpit is generally reserved for clergy. This is mandated in the regulations of the Roman Catholic church, and several others (though not always strictly observed). Even in Welsh Nonconformism, this was felt appropriate, and in some chapels a second pulpit was built opposite the main one for lay exhortations, testimonials and other speeches. Many churches have a second, smaller stand called the lectern, which can be used by lay persons, and is often used for all the readings and ordinary announcements. The traditional Catholic location of the pulpit to the side of the chancel or nave has been generally retained by episcopalian and some other Protestant denominations, while in Presbyterian and Evangelical churches the pulpit has often replaced the altar at the centre.
Pulpit (February 15, 1994 – December 6, 2012) was an American Thoroughbred stallion who stood at stud at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky for a fee of $60,000 per live foal up until his death in late 2012.
His sire was the 1992 Eclipse Award winner for American Horse of the Year and American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse A.P. Indy. His dam was the Grade 1-winning race mare Preach. Pulpit died on December 6, 2012 at the age of 18 at Claiborne Farm. He had shown no signs of illness or injury prior to his death.
Pulpit was unraced as a two-year-old. He made his first start in January of 1997, his three-year-old year. He immediately made an impact by winning his first three starts, including the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Florida.
After finishing second in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Pulpit dominated his next start, the $700,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky. With Shane Sellers aboard, Pulpit drew clear down the stretch and finished 3 1/2 lengths in front of Acceptable. The race solidified his status as a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender.
The Siena Cathedral Pulpit is an octagonal structure in Siena Cathedral sculpted by Nicola Pisano and his assistants Arnolfo di Cambio, Lapo di Ricevuto, and Nicolas' son Giovanni Pisano between the fall of 1265 and the fall of 1268. The pulpit, with its seven narrative panels and nine decorative columns carved out of Carrara marble, showcases Nicola Pisano's talent for integrating classical themes into Christian traditions, making both Nicola Pisano and the Siena pulpit forerunners of the classical revival of the Italian Renaissance.
The prosperity of the city of Siena during the thirteenth century led to an increase in civic pride and interest in public works. In 1196, the cathedral masons' guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was commissioned to construct a new cathedral to take the place of the original structure that was built in the ninth century. Many artists were commissioned to gild the interior and the façade of the new cathedral. For the construction of the pulpit, a contract was drawn up in Pisa on September 29, 1265 between the artist Nicola Pisano and the Cistercian Fra Melano, who was the Master of the Cathedral works of Siena. Nicola had earned fame from his work on the Pisan pulpit which he had finished in 1260. This contract stipulated precise clauses such as "the materials, times of work (Nicola was to be absent only for 60 days a year) payment and collaborators." It also stated that there were to be seven panels instead of five such as in Pisa and it also stated that Pisano needed to use the Sienese Carrara marble. "For this labour Nicola, magister lapisorum, would receive eight Pisan soldi per day, his two pupils Arnolfo di Cambio and Lapo would each receive six soldi per day and—should he work—then ... Nicoli was to receive four soldi per day, to be paid to his father."
Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Mist and shadow, cloud and shade
All shall fade! All shall fade