Pulpit of the Stephansdom, Gothic pulpit in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Austria.
The pulpit in St. Stephen's Cathedral is a stone structure in the Late Gothic style, positioned against a pillar in the main nave. It displays relief portraits of the four original Doctors of the Church and features intricately carved surfaces throughout.
The pulpit was carved from Breitenbrunn limestone between 1510 and 1515, though some date it to around 1500. It is now attributed to a master in the circle of Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden rather than to Anton Pilgram, whose mason's mark beside the Window Watcher suggests he took part in the execution. Restorations are recorded for 1597 and 1652; in 1870 the sinking pillar was shored up, and between 1878 and 1880 the pulpit was dismantled, cleaned of old oil paint and reassembled.
The stair railing is carved with frogs and other amphibians biting each other, a symbol of the struggle between good and evil; lizards and newts that come into the sun stand for good, frogs that shun daylight for evil. At the top of the railing sits a stone dog, popularly called the "little dog without fear", meant to keep any animal from reaching the preacher.
The pulpit stands at the second pillar of the northern row of pillars, counted from the Riesentor; its stairway climbs the pillar's north side in the left aisle, with 15 steps curving along the east face. Visitors may not climb or stand on the pulpit itself. A grate has encircled its foot since the second half of the 19th century.
The "Window Watcher" beneath the pulpit stairs is a self-portrait of the pulpit's master, not of Anton Pilgram, to whom the work was long attributed. Pilgram's mason's mark appears beside it, suggesting he was at least involved in the execution. The inscription REN. A. D. 1880 and the mark of builder Friedrich von Schmidt below the figure recall the restoration of 1878–1880.
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