The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 1 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authorsBeattie, William
History
The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 1 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authors
Beattie, William
Abbeys -- England; Castles -- England
Another interesting portrait is that of “Jocky of Norfolk,” father of
the preceding, who fell with Richard at the battle of Bosworth. A third
is the portrait of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, “the delight and
ornament of his age and nation,” whose bright life and tragical end are
familiarly known to every reader.--But to this we purpose to return in a
subsequent part of the work. A fourth is that of Thomas, Duke of
Norfolk, painted by Holbein, whose evil fortunes are so closely
associated with those of Mary Queen of Scots. Also the portraits of his
wife, Mary Fitzalan, the last of her family, who died in her eighteenth
year; and of her only brother, Henry Fitzalan, Lord Maltravers, painted
at Brussels.
There are also portraits of the celebrated Cardinal Howard, of “belted
Will Howard,” and of various other members of the same house, by the
eminent painters of the day.
In the furnishing of these state apartments there is little to excite
attention; it combines elegance with simplicity, but contains nothing
gorgeous in colour or texture. The woodwork is nearly mahogany
throughout. Nothing, however, could be more out of place--a wood that
has been known in this country little more than a century, is ill
associated with the Gothic ornaments of a baronial hall. Old English oak
is, beyond doubt, that which best harmonizes with our ideas in such
places. A piece of old oak carving is an object of never-failing
interest to the mind of an antiquary; but in Arundel Castle we observed
no specimens of native ‘gnarled oak,’ except in the “Windsor rooms.”
<g>The Dining-room</g>--formed, as we have already mentioned, out of the
ancient family chapel--is a lofty, spacious, well-proportioned room, and
chiefly remarkable for its great window of stained glass, which still
throws “a religious light” over the banquet. It is quite modern, and the
historical subject selected for its embellishment is the Meeting of
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba--portraits of the late Duke and
Duchess-dowager of Norfolk. “On each side is a beautiful transparency on
plate-glass--one representing the Mercy-seat in the Jewish tabernacle,
the pillars protected by cherubim, with Aaron’s pitcher and rod lying at
the foot of the altar; the other is a fine representation of the
Interior of the Tabernacle, as transmitted to us in the Biblical
account; and both serving to soften and modify the light as it falls on
the great painting in the centre[34].
[Illustration]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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