Early Renaissance Architecture in England: A Historical & Descriptive Account of the Tudor, Elizabethan, & Jacobean Periods, 1500-1625Gotch, J. Alfred (John Alfred)
History
Early Renaissance Architecture in England: A Historical & Descriptive Account of the Tudor, Elizabethan, & Jacobean Periods, 1500-1625
At Scole, in Norfolk, a very curious survival of the old classical
_motifs_ was to be seen, till the end of last century, in a great sign
erected in 1655 for the "White Hart" Inn (Fig. 201). The hart itself
lies couchant on the middle of the main beam, beneath a pediment
supported by Justice and Plenty, two qualities for which the host
may be excused if he considered his house noted. On one side of the
centre-piece stands Actæon, about to be torn in pieces by his dogs, to
whom he is supposed to be addressing the Latin legend beneath him:
"I am Actæon, know your master." On the other side stands Diana, and
beyond her is Time, about to devour his child, beginning with its hand;
beneath him his identity is made quite clear by the sentence "Tempus
edax rerum." In the frieze below the beam are two figures representing
(probably) Bacchus and Gambrinus, supported on either side by coats of
arms. Angels and lions hold further coats of arms. There is Cerberus
with his three heads, while numerous bunches of grapes, men blowing
horns, and other devices suitable to the purpose occupy the rest of
the space. The whole design might have come from the fertile brain of
George Gascoigne, who was responsible for most of the entertainments at
Kenilworth when Queen Elizabeth paid her celebrated visit there nearly
eighty years before this sign was erected. The fundamental idea which
underlay all design of the time was to combine strong classic feeling
with picturesqueness of expression.
[Illustration: 201.--THE SIGN OF THE "WHITE HART" INN, FORMERLY AT
SCOLE, NORFOLK (1655).]
WORK IN CHURCHES.
[Illustration: 202.--CHICHESTER TOMB, PILTON CHURCH, DEVONSHIRE
(1566).]
It has already been stated that there is no ecclesiastical architecture
of early Renaissance character in England. There were a number of
churches built during the first thirty years of the sixteenth century,
but they are all Gothic in treatment. The influence of the Renaissance
on certain features to be found in churches, such as chantries and
tombs, has already been dealt with. It remains to glance at the changes
that occurred in church fittings as the century grew older. Although
no churches, or extremely few, were built after the Dissolution of
the Monasteries, still the Elizabethan and Jacobean squires were not
backward in embellishing the ancient structures, and there are plenty
of screens, pulpits, font-covers, and particularly tombs, to be found
all over the country, although it cannot be denied that under the
influence of the revival of Gothic feeling which took place about fifty
years ago, a great deal of Elizabethan and Jacobean work was either
destroyed, or removed to the vestry, into which confined space it was
made to fit by a ruthless exercise of the axe and saw.
[Illustration: 203.--FROM ONE OF THE FOLJAMBE TOMBS, CHESTERFIELD
CHURCH, DERBYSHIRE (1592).]
[Illustration: 204.--TOMB OF G. REED (D. 1610), BREDON CHURCH,
WORCESTERSHIRE.]
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account