A Short Account of King's College ChapelLittlechild, Walter Poole
Religion
A Short Account of King's College Chapel
Littlechild, Walter Poole
King's College (University of Cambridge). Chapel
AS I have previously mentioned, the building was begun in 1446, but,
owing to the long Civil Wars, it dragged on until 1515; and it was in
that year that a contract was entered into with one Barnard Flower, to
glaze the windows "with good, clene, sure, and perfyte glass, according
to the old and new lawe," or, as we should put it, the Old and New
Testament. Barnard Flower died between July 25, 1517, the date of his
will, and August 14, 1517, the date when the will was proved, having
completed only four windows, one of which is generally believed to be
that over the north door, while a second faces the organ on the same
side. He describes himself as "Barnard Floure, the Kinges glasyer of
England, dwelling within the precynt of Saint Martin hospitale, in the
Burgh of Southwark, in the county of Surrey." In 1526 two contracts
were entered into with other firms to complete the rest of the windows,
which was done in 1531. Among the names of those who entered into the
last contract were two Flemings. Windows of a similar kind, although
smaller, are to be found at Fairford in Gloucestershire; these date from
about 1490.
The windows of the Chapel contain the finest series in the world of
pictures in glass on a large scale. The tracery is filled with heraldic
devices. At the top of the centre light are the Royal Arms as borne by
Henry VII, and the rest of the badges are Roses, Crowns, Portcullises,
Hawthorn bushes and Fleur-de-lys, being all appropriate to Henry VII.
There are also the initials H. E. (Henry VII and Elizabeth of York) and
H. K. for Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon as Prince and Princess of
Wales. These badges run all round the side windows. In each side window
there are four subjects, two side lights above and two below the transom
or crossbar, while in the centre light are four figures, men and angels
alternately, "Messengers," as they are called, because they hold scrolls
or tablets (in Latin) descriptive of the pictures at the sides. All the
side windows, except the easternmost window on the south side, are
carried out in a similar manner.
In most cases the two lower pictures illustrate two scenes in the New
Testament, and the two upper ones give types of these scenes drawn from
the Old Testament or elsewhere. There are exceptions to this
arrangement, as, for instance, the first two windows on the north side
and in those illustrating the Acts of the Apostles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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