Guardian Angels at Winchester

To mark today's feast of the Guardian Angels here is a picture of the lovely paintings on the vault of the Chapel of the Guardian Angels in Winchester Cathedral.

They date from circa 1240 and are the work of Master William, the King's painter. Not only do the paintings show the taste of of the monks of Winchester and of that discerning patron of the visual arts King Henry III, but they also indicate how the vault of a thirteenth century cathedral could or indeed should be decorated. 

There are remains of similar schemes in the choir and eastern transepts of Salisbury Cathedral, and there is a restored fragment in the south transept of Lincoln. A somewhat similar fourteenth century scheme survives at St Albans in the presbytery.

Image:photoree.com