Heraldry as art: An account of its development and practice, chiefly in EnglandEve, G. W. (George William)
History
Heraldry as art: An account of its development and practice, chiefly in England
Eve, G. W. (George William)
Heraldry -- Great Britain
At Venice there is an admirably designed incised tablet in which
Amorini stand beside the shield, each supporting on a pole one of the
two large crests, Fig. 163; and the demi-angels which support the Royal
Arms on the spandrels of the screen of Henry V. Chantry at Westminster,
and the series of similar figures holding Badges in various parts of
the Abbey should also be noted.
Another admirable work in which Amorini figure is the fine panel of the
Arms of Cardinal Wolsey, which faces the Crown Court at Hampton Court
Palace, Fig. 164, a work that is no less remarkable for the strength
and bold relief of its heraldry than for the grace and beautiful
modelling of the figures.
Under the head of supporters reference may also be made to the eagles,
double or single-headed, on which in certain cases armorials are
borne as a mark of special privilege. The arms of Princes and Peers
of the Holy Roman Empire are borne on the double-headed Imperial
Eagle, like those of the Duke of Marlborough as Prince of Mindelheim,
as a privilege inherent in their rank. The single-headed eagle of
the Kingdom of Prussia supports in a similar way the armorials of
The Countess of Derby, to one of whose ancestors, Lord Carnarvon,
Ambassador at Berlin at the end of the seventeenth century, the
privilege was granted by Frederick William I. It therefore appears on
her book plate, which I am permitted to reproduce here, Fig. 165.
[Illustration: FIG. 164.--Sculptured Arms of Cardinal Wolsey. Hampton
Court Palace.]
Other accessories consist of Crowns, Coronets, Insignia of Order of
Knighthood, Mottoes, Symbols of Office, Medals or any other emblem of
personal dignity or ornament.
The principal of these, the Imperial Crown, was, in its earliest form,
a decorated circlet which was frequently of a most beautiful and
elaborate character, but whose decoration, apart from its general form,
had not acquired specific symbolic force, unless the fleur-de-lis that
sometimes appeared as part of it may be so regarded. If so, it was
probably introduced with the same idea of religious symbolism, as an
emblem of the Resurrection, or of the Virgin Mary, or of the Trinity,
which caused it to be used on sceptres and in other ways. The crowns
of the early seals show traces of arches in some instances, but it was
only in the time of Henry V that the crown, the one that succeeded the
“golden care” of Shakespeare, finally became arched.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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