BANCO (med. Ger. panch, med. Lat. banchum, Fr. banc). — A movable seat used since antiquity, consisting of a plank supported on two or four legs, with lateral supports and sometimes a back; it may be freestanding or placed against a wall. In its primitive form it appears carved out of the thickness of the wall, or is made of masonry (e.g. in the Roman catacombs).
In the 15th–16th centuries cassapanca (v.).
Some miniatures document the entirely elementary form of the b. of the early Middle Ages, otherwise unknown; one of the oldest surviving originals (12th–13th centuries), from the church of Alpirabach and preserved in the Stuttgart museum, is still of an extremely simple form.
In private houses, b. were placed near the bed or fireplace and were furnished with cushions or special coverings (bancali, pancali). The walls against which b. were sometimes placed were decorated with textiles or embroidery, especially when the b. extended along all the walls of rooms, sacristies, or presbyteries;
many inventories mention these dossalia (vela), of which some originals remain. In northern houses, and especially during the Gothic period, b. were fixed to the walls, when, as often occurred, these too were made of wood.
During the Renaissance, especially in Italy, the back panel of b. was richly decorated with reliefs or inlay (e.g. the Cambio hall in Perugia, etc.). From the 17th century, b. almost disappeared from the more luxurious interiors, and their use spread in popular homes. They are generally found, sometimes in fine forms, in churches, especially in northern countries; in this case, the kneeler is joined to the b. properly so called.