George Edmund Street: Unpublished Notes and Reprinted PapersStreet, George Edmund
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George Edmund Street: Unpublished Notes and Reprinted Papers
Street, George Edmund
Architecture, Gothic; Church architecture -- Europe; Europe -- Description and travel; Street, George Edmund, 1824-1881
Before going to the chancel a note should be added here, as to the
painted decorations which have been discovered. A portion of these
are architectural in their character, the rest pictorial. Among the
former, is the running pattern forming a border under the string-course
in the south aisle. This I hope to continue all along the wall, it
being sufficiently clear in the one place where it occurs to warrant
restoration; and I have no doubt of the importance attached by the
old architect to decoration on a line so marked as that of the
principal string-course. There is also a faint border round the chancel
arch, painted in red, but rather later in its character than the
string-course. The pictorial decorations are all on the north aisle
wall. Between the first and second windows is a large sitting figure
of the Blessed Virgin Mary nursing our Lord: S. Mary has a veil, and
is not crowned, and has a red robe and a blue cloak. She is seated on
a throne with shafts at the angles, and the canopy is a gabled trefoil
with triple pinnacles on either side. As far as I can judge, this work
appears to be very late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century
work, and was evidently rich in colour. The painting between the two
next windows is so damaged that I have been unable to decide what it
represents. On the wall east of the eastern window is another figure
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also nursing our Lord, and seated under a
trefoiled canopy. No other traces of painting remain, save the colour,
already mentioned, on the sculptured crosses over the chancel arch, and
some painted crosses on the east wall of the chancel.
From this description it will be seen how systematically all this
portion of the work has been designed: subject to the carrying out of
the general scheme there are, however, some small peculiarities which
may point, either to the Gothic love of variety on the part of the
architect, or (and as I think, more probably) to the fact that portions
of the work may have been special offerings or donations from different
persons. Certainly I see no other way of accounting for the repetition
within a few years of two copies of the same painted subject on the
north aisle wall.
It is to be noticed that there is no sign of a piscina in either of the
aisles. I thought it possible at first that the arcade we discovered in
the south aisle might have formed a portion of the sedilia for an altar
in the aisle, but I hardly think now that this could have been the case.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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