Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal SeeSergeant, Philip Walsingham
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
Sergeant, Philip Walsingham
Winchester Cathedral
The north and south sides of the feretory are flanked by the chantries
of Bishops Gardiner and Fox, into which it opens. #Gardiner's Chantry#,
in the Renaissance style, was much damaged by the Reformers, the head
being knocked off the figure lying in a long niche on the outside of the
chantry, and other indignities committed. Of the tomb nothing now
remains, but there is an altar with figures at the back, after Italian
models, representing, according to one tradition, Justice and Mercy,
while others say the Law and the Gospel. At the east end is a small
vestry used as a repository for fragments. The details and the mouldings
of Gardiner's chantry are of the Renaissance style, and Britton has
described the chapel as "bad Italian and bad English." This is true of
the eastern end of the compartment, but there are redeeming features
amid the curious mixture of styles. Below the floor-level of this
chantry may be seen the base of one of the Norman apse piers, the sole
remaining feature of the Norman east end except the crypt.
#Bishop Fox's Chantry# is a far finer piece of work and is certainly the
most elaborate chantry in the cathedral. It displays no fewer than
fifty-five richly-groined niches, all different in pattern; only two of
them are tenanted, and these by very recent figures, on either side of
the door. There is a great amount of wonderful undercutting to be seen
in the spandrels to the arches, and the upper part of the erection shows
open tracery with niches and canopies, under a cornice of running
foliage and Tudor flowers, surmounted by panelled pinnacles. Fox's
"pelican in her piety" alternates on the pinnacles with small octagonal
turrets. At one time, moreover, all the arches, etc., contained stained
glass, but this has now vanished. Within there is no tomb, but, as in
Gardiner's chantry, there is, in an arched recess at the side, the
ghastly carved figure of a corpse so frequently introduced in monuments
of the period. The altar is surmounted by a small reredos in a sunk
panel, now unoccupied, crowned by a band of angels bearing emblems of
the Passion. Over the altar is this inscription in Latin:--
_O sacrum convivium in quo Christus sumitur._
There is here, as was the case with Gardiner's chantry, a small room at
the eastern end. In this are chests in which relics were kept.
[Illustration: BISHOP FOX'S CHANTRY.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account