Misericords

I have been fascinated by misericords for a long time. Unfortunately in many churches it is hard to get access to the choir stalls. However, in Leuven where I spent a day it was easy to photograph them, as the main church is also a museum and after paying a fee one has access to the stalls. So here are pictures of all the misericords of the St. Peter’s Church in the Market Square, the oldest church in Leuven. The church was presumably founded in 986. The first church burnt down in 1176. A new Romanesque church was built with a crypt, an extension, at the back of the choir.

 

There is an international site with misericords, but the ones on this page are not included. Unfortunately I discovered that I have missed the most beautiful ones in Leuven, in the St. Gertrude Church. I had not found anything about that church in the guidebooks. Three churches in the Netherlands are included in the site, but Bolsward is missing, as well as Dordrecht, two churches which also have misericords as far as I know. On the website of the Martini Church in Bolsward are pictures of the woodwork and misericords.

Dordrecht has wonderful choirstalls. Here are pictures of the choirstalls and misericords.

Unfortunately iconoclasm defaced and damaged many misericords.