Objects carved from wood were frequently used for religious purposes in antiquity, especially by the Egyptians; the early statues of the gods were of wood. Wood-carving, however, did not receive its real development until the Christian era. On account of the perishable character of the material it is easy to understand that only a small amount of the wood-carving of Christian antiquity still exists. These scanty remains show that wood was then partly used for the same church purposes as to-day. A mention should be made here in particular of the wood-sculpture from Bawit in Egypt, namely the figures of two saints and consoles which were acquired in 1898 by the museum at Cairo, and the door of the Basilica of St. Sabvina at Rome, the most important monument of early Christian wood-carving. In the early period reliquaries were frequently made of wood, as were also the episcopal cathedra; these chairs were adorned with ivory carved in relief, as is shown by the celebrated cathedra of Bishop Maximianus at Ravenna. Originally the entire art of the Germans was expressed by work in wood; the churches were built almost entirely of wood, consequently, it may be assumed that most of the fittings of a church were of the same material. The adornment of the surfaces, which was produced by tooled work, consisted of figures of animals and interlaced geometrical designs in most peculiar interweavings and turnings. However, almost nothing remains of all the perishable objects of the early period, the chairs, coffers, and doors, with the exception of the small reading-desk of St. Radegunde (d. 587) at Poitiers, and the delicately carved door belonging to St. Bertoldo at Parma. This door is probably of Lombard origin; the characteristic German carving and work in geometrical design on the frame and panels make it a very beautiful piece of art. Such carving in low-relief, as shown on the only well-preserved chest of this era in the cathedral at Terracina in Italy, was common throughout the entire early medieval period. This is evidenced from the two wings of a folding-door of the eleventh century in the cathedral of Puy, one of which bears the legend: "Godfredur me fecit" (cf. Haupt, "Die alteste Kunst der Germanen", Leipzig, 1909). The statues of saints and of the Virgin carved from wood, and the carved wooden images of the Saviour, have almost entirely disappeared, owing to the decay of time and the change of taste. Among those that have been preserved is the celebrated "Volto santo di Lucca", a crucified Christ clad in a tunic with sleeves that belongs to the eighth century, also a similar carving of the crucifixion at Emmerich, Prussia, a work of the year 1000. In addition, there are several representations in wood of the Madonna, that, however, can scarcely be included among artistic carved work, as they are entirely covered with plates of gold, a circumstance to which they owe their preservation. Such Madonnas may be found, for example, at Essen and Hildesheim in Prussia. Wooden seats, such as were used to a limited extent in the churches during the early medieval period, are only known from miniatures in the manuscripts and from sculpture in stone. These show that they generally were made of rounded posts, ribs, and boards which were seldom ornamented by carvings. Seats of this sort were retained in Romanesque art down to the twelfth century. A very unusual example of a pew made of turned round timber, belonging to the twelfth century, is to be found in the Museum of Industrial Art at Christiania. Strictly speaking it is turner-and-joiner-work. +