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 at Thundridge is introduced on Wikipedia in articles which can be seen at /Thundridge and in another about a hamlet in 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 very regrettable indeed.

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

More about Papal Agnus Deis

Following on from my last post here are two more articles from the New Liturgical Movement about the rite of blessing of these wax medallions. 

The first is about the rite as used in recent centuries, and the second an earlier form from the late fifteenth century. How far back the latter form dates is not clear.

They can be accessed at The Rite of Blessing of the Agnus Deis (Part 1) and at The Rite of Blessing of the Agnus Deis (Part 2)

Rediscovering the seal of King Edward the Confessor

There is a particular nightmare that affects archivists And research as in respect of historic manuscript collections.

That is that material gets misfiled - returned to the wrong box, or the file misplaced in the stacks, whatever - and when it goes missing, no one knows when, if ever, it will come to light. The next person who wants to consult the file may not come along for a year, or for a decade, or for a century. Virtually anonymous boxes in amongst so many others that look almost identical are far less easy to monitor than books in a library store, and that is no easy matter in itself.

The phys.org website reports the happy and fortuitous rediscovery in 2021 in the Archives Nationales in Paris of the best surviving example of the seal of King Edward the Confessor. Dated to the years 1053 to 1057 and authorising a grant to the abbey of St Denis it has become detached from the original charter, and disappeared without trace into the depths of the Archives Nationales some forty years ago.

The article discusses the emergence of this, the first English Great Seal, and what it reveals about St Edward’s concept of his kingship as well as what it indicates about his chancery.

It is the prototype of all its successors as the ultimate authentication of the Sovereign’s will and authority down to that created the other year for King Charles III.

The article, which has photographs of the recovered seal, can be accessed at Lost seal of Edward the Confessor resurfaces after going missing for 40 years