concept drawing and orthographic for pews

wooden seats or benches in the church. pews only appeared at the end of the medieval period. often pews had carved bench ends and carved with animal or foliage design. I have kept mine simple with an arch shape to keep the solidity. The pew would be made of oak. so I wanted the shape to reflect the material. From the 16oo's through to the mid 1800s, church goers of most denominations were seated in their houses of worship according to social rank. This portrayed a christian perception of a divinely ordered hierarchy of creation. The highest ranking were close to the pulpit. Some pews were set aside as a general seating for special groups. According to town, location, date and circumstances. Variants included reserving seats for adolescents, the poor, widows, the hard of hearing and black people.

In the early church people stood to worship as shown in Dante G. Rossetti 1848. Pen and ink of figures in church pews some facing backwards, woman praying slouching over a small dais, as a man with horns stands behind her., bending down towards her ear. to the right a second man kneeling behind another dais leans forward looking at the woman. the scene is enclosed within an arched frame on the outside two men watch the scene one in each corner.