Misericord
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A misericord is a small wooden structure on the underside of a hinged folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a ledge to support a person leaning against it i
Misericord from the Charterhouse of Florence (Tuscany, Italy), depicting a mascaron (a decorative face)
With the seat lifted (as at left), the misericord provides a ledge to support the user.
St Botolph's Church, Boston, Lincolnshire: a school-master thrashing a pupil
A simple bracket-like misericord, Bechtolsheim, Germany
Mercy seat
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the kaporet or mercy seat was the gold lid placed on the Ark of the Covenant, with two cherubim at the ends to cover and create the space in which Yahweh appeared and dw
Misericord
…A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object, sometimes misericordia) is a small wooden structure (a sort of shelf) on the underside of a hinged folding seat in a church which, when the seat (or…
Replica of the ark of the covenant, with the "mercy seat" (kaporet) acting as lid.
"The Ark and the Mercy Seat", 1894 illustration by Henry Davenport Northrop
The mercy seat in the 1890 Holman Bible