Anne Boleyn sat here?

I continue to be surprised by the number of people - mainly women I think - who have a sentimental fascination with Anne Boleyn. Whilst not on a par with the extremes of Ricardian enthusiasts it is somewhere in the same part of the field.

Personally I am more inclined to see her as one of, if not the, most evil women in English history. 

The current exhibition about her at Hever Castle includes a substantial chair which appears to have been made for her in the years she was at the French Court and before she returned to England. If it really did belong to her then it is a rare survival and link to her.

Artnet reports on the chair and what can be deduced about its history in an illustrated article which can be seen at Was This Anne Boleyn's Seat? Rare 500-Year-Old Chair Linked to the Tudor Queen

Seeking to identify the ‘Persian Lady’

Amongst the Elizabethan era paintings in the Royal Collection one that has attracted considerable speculation is what is often known as the ‘Persian Lady’. The lady herself is obviously western, not Persian, but clad in a voluminous robe in a style identified as being Persian. She is obviously wealthy and also expecting a child. The great question is her identity.

Attempts to answer that have included several distinctly eccentric theories over the years. However the Daily Telegraph recently reported on what appears a much more likely theory that the Subject was Penelope Lady Rich, later Lady Mountjoy and briefly Countess of Devonshire. A very well connected and significant figure at the Elizabethan and Jacobean Court, as the daughter of Lettice Knollys and sister of the ill-fated Earl of Essex, and thus step-daughter of the Earl of Leicester, she was an ultimately scandalous one.

 

The article about the suggested identification can be seen at Mystery of ‘Persian Lady’ in Elizabethan masterpiece solved

  

Wikipedia has biographies of Penelope at Penelope_Blount,_Countess_of_Devonshire

and of her two husbands Robert_Rich,_1st_Earl_of_Warwick and at Charles_Blount,_8th_Baron_Mountjoy

.

The article on Charles Mountjoy mentions that his marriage to the divorced Penelope was solemnised by his chaplain, William Laud. It does not refer to the fact that for the rest of his life the future Archbishop observed the anniversary by fasting in repentance for conducting the marriage service.

Render unto your parish church

 

I have written before in Render unto God … about the fact that many medieval English  parish churches, as well as castles and town walls, were originally rendered and painted to seal the walls against damp ingress. With ashlar built churches this was not necessary, but in areas lacking good building stone it was a practical necessity. Where ashlar was used in architectural details such as quoins and other details that masonry was left exposed to provide contrast.

 

This is a topic which is not discussed much in books on parish church architecture, and overly enthusiastic nineteenth century restores often stripped surviving rendering off medieval churches along with the internal plaster. The exterior may now look pleasantly rural and traditional, but it is not what the builders intended.

I came by chance upon a video about this subject, and looks at several examples. The practical need to protect the fabric against the weather is shown, and some of the comments make interesting points. It can be accessed at Thundridge Old Church

The history of the church and parish at Thundridge is introduced on Wikipedia in articles which can be seen at Thundridge and in another about a hamlet within the parish at Cold_Christmas

The website of a voluntary trust which seeks to preserve the tower can be accessed at Protect and Share Thundridge Bury History

Amongst its illustrations is a charming view of the church before its demolition in 1853. Its loss appears to be very regrettable indeed.

There is now a new video online about the tower which, despite its eye-catching title, as actually very optimistic about future plans. It can be viewed at Thundridge Old Church

Examples of surviving medieval rendering on castles can be seen at Conwy and on the shell keep of Totnes. These were castles that were meant to be seen with their gleaming white walls, not structures that blended into the landscape. A later twelfth century reference to a newly built castle within the Angevin lands in France lays stress on its white walls. 

A gown belonging to Bess of Hardwick

Hardwick Hall and its contents in Derbyshire offers a unique insight into the life of its formidable creator, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, better known as Bess of Hardwick. From a minor gentry background at Hardwick through four marriages, each one raising her status, and through shrewd estate management, she was the central figure in establishing the Cavendish children from her second marriage as the Devonshire ducal family and their place in the political and social history of succeeding centuries.

I have visited Hardwick on several occasions and never failed to be impressed by what the building is, and the collection of portraits and furniture from the Countess’s time. Amongst these are embroidered pieces created both by the Countess and also by Mary Queen of Scots whilst she was lodged with the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, together with her royal household-in-exile, in the 1570s and early 1580s.

A new exhibition about Bess of Hardwick promises another remarkable survival in the form of a violet dress listed in a 1601 inventory as one of her possessions. The gown is illustrated and placed in its context in a BBC News report which can be seen at Rare gown dating back to 1600s to go on display at Hardwick Hall

Shakespeare was here

St George’s Day on April 23rd is also, apparently, the date of both Shakespeare’s birth in 1564 and of his death in 1616. He is a writer who, not surprisingly, is still frequently in the news. 

His most recent appearance is in connection with a property he bought in the last years of his life, close to one of the theatres he acted in and wrote for. This had been created in part of the remains of the dissolved monastery of Blackfriars close to the Thames and in the western part of the City of London. The fact of him having a house in the vicinity was known but a recent discovery has revealed a plan of the house and its precise location.

The discovery is set out in a recent BBC News article which can be seen at Shakespeare's 'missing' Blackfriars home mapped with discovery

St George’s Day

 

St George and the Dragon

Rogier van der Weyden

1432-35

National Gallery of Art, Washington 

Looking online I came upon a blog post by Professor Sarah Peverley about the cult of St George in later medieval England. It is quite short but includes a range of themes and insights, as well as some good illustrations. It can accessed at Saint George

May St George ever pray for England, its people and institutions, and for all who seek his intercession.

 

St George, Pray for us!

The continuing saga of the Sigena murals

 The Art Newspaper reported recently on the latest falling out over the twelfth century ceiling paintings from the chapter house of the monastery at Sijena/Sigena in Aragon. This is but part of a story that could be said to begin with the painting of the ceiling around 1200, but which really becomes active with the burning of the monastery - clearly an historic monument - by fanatical anti-clerical Republicans in the summer of 1936 at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. What survived of this great cycle of paintings was transferred to Barcelona, but now there is strong pressure to relocate them in their original setting, and equally pressure to keep the surviving portions in Barcelona.

The article can be read at Barcelona museum refuse to return Sijena murals to monastery

The Wikipedia articles about the monastery and its history are not that detailed, but do show how the murals belonged to the shared artistic culture that linked Aragon to both England and Sicily in the period. This was no doubt a consequence of the diplomatic and dynastic alliances forged by King Henry II. As the article mentions the artists who worked at Sijena were, or were linked to, the artists who illuminated the Winchester Bible.

 

The articles can be viewed at Villanueva_de_Sigena

andRoyal_Monastery_of_Santa_Maria_de_Sigena

It is good to read that not only are the monastery buildings being restored, but that a community of nuns has been restablished at Sigena. The story of the destruction of so much at Sigena is a continuing reminder of the forces of hatred and evil the Nationalists were fighting against in the Spanish Civil War and why we should be grateful that they prevailed.

The Paschal Candle in Milan Cathedral

The distinctive customs of the Ambrosian Rite and the usages of the cathedral in Milan include a very striking positioning of the Pascal Candle.

The Liturgical Arts Journal recently had an article about this tradition which can be accessed at The Monumental, Suspended Paschal Candlestick of the Duomo of Milan

In 2020 I wrote about the cathedral Pascal Candlestick in connection with its part in the ceremonies of Ascension Day in Milanese Ascension Spectacle