Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lincoln: A History and Description of its Fabric and a List of the BishopsKendrick, A. F. (Albert Frank)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lincoln: A History and Description of its Fabric and a List of the Bishops
Kendrick, A. F. (Albert Frank)
Lincoln Cathedral
Both in the aisles and in the clerestory, broad windows, filled with
elegant geometric tracery, take the place of the plain lancets seen in
other parts. The most magnificent exterior feature of the eastern arm is
undoubtedly the sculptured doorway on the south side. Leland, in the time
of Henry VIII., writes: "There is a very faire Doore in the upper part
of the Churche Southward to go into the Close, and againe this lyith the
Byshop's Palace hangginge _in declivio_." It was probably constructed,
like the Galilee doorway, as a state entrance for the bishop. The porch
fills the third bay, and projects as far as the buttresses; its sides
recede inwards to the pair of doors giving access to the Angel Choir.
Although the doorways of our cathedrals, as a rule, cannot in any way be
compared with the magnificent portals to be seen in France, yet this single
example at Lincoln would be quite enough to prove that English architects
were capable of designing a really magnificent doorway. In the tympanum is
the subject of the Last Judgment in relief. A majestic figure of Christ the
Judge occupies the central space, with an angel on either side swinging a
censer. He is surrounded by a quatrefoiled aureole supported by angels.
To the left, the dead are rising from their tombs, and are borne aloft
by angels; on the other side demons are dragging the condemned down to
the jaws of hell, which gape wide open beneath the Saviour's feet. The
archivolt is richly decorated with sculpture. In the inner band is a
row of niches with twelve seated figures, apparently kings and queens:
next a double band of delicate open-work foliage; outside this a row of
sixteen slender standing figures enclosed by interlacing stems, richly
decorated with foliage. The doorway is formed of two cinquefoiled arches,
separated by a central pillar having the canopy and base for a figure
of the Virgin, which has been removed. On either side of the doorway is
a triple canopy for statues, and behind this a row of slender columns
with foliated capitals.
The hand of the restorer might well have spared this beautiful porch, where
the question of the stability of the fabric did not in any way arise. But,
unfortunately, an attempt was made about thirty years ago to restore the
mutilated figures, and further restorations are now [1897] being carried
out. A cast of the headless figure of Christ, with the two angels at the
sides, has recently been acquired by the South Kensington Museum. It is
valuable as shewing the state of the central figure before restoration
(see illustration, p. 67). It is believed that Essex also had tampered
with this door in the last century. On the buttresses on either side of
the doorway are four headless statues, resting on corbels supported by
projecting figures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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