The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal seeDearmer, Percy
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The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal see
Dearmer, Percy
Christ Church Cathedral (Oxford, England)
"The head of the effigy reposes on a double cushion, and is supported on
each side by a small figure of an angel in an alb; these albs are loose,
and not girded round the waist. The heads of these figures are defaced,
and they are otherwise much mutilated. She is represented with her neck
bare, her hair disposed and confined on each side, the face within a
jewelled caul of network; over the forehead is worn a veil, and over this
is a rich cap or plaited head-dress with nébulé folds, with a tippet
attached to it and falling down behind. Her body-dress consists of a robe
or sleeveless gown, fastened in front downwards to below the waist by a
row of ornamented buttons. The full skirts of the gown are tastefully
disposed, but not so much so as we sometimes find on effigies of the
fourteenth century. The gown is of a red colour, flowered with yellow
and green, and at each side of the waist is an opening, within which is
disclosed the inner vest, of which the close-fitting sleeves of the arms,
extending to the wrists, form part; this is painted of a different colour
and in a different pattern to the gown. This was probably the corset worn
beneath the open super-tunic. The gown is flounced at the skirts by a
broad white border, and round the side openings, and along the border
of the top of the gown, is a rich border of leaves. The hands, which
are bare, are joined on the breast in a devotional attitude. Over the
gown or super-tunic is worn the mantle, fastened together in front
of the breast by a large and rich lozenge-shaped morse, raised in
high relief. The mantle, of a buff colour, is covered all over with
rondeaux or roundels connected together by small bands, whilst in the
intermediate spaces are _fleur de lis_: all these are of raised work,
and deserve minute examination. They are apparently not executed by means
of the chisel, but formed in some hard paste or composition [_gesso_]
laid upon the sculptured stone and impressed with a stamp. The feet of
the effigy appear from beneath the skirts of the gown in black shoes,
and rest against a dog."
Of the statuettes on each side of Lady Montacute's tomb, which are each
a foot and a half high, Mr Bloxham says:--
"The first and easternmost of these, on the north side, is the most
puzzling and difficult of all to describe, as regards the costume,
and the more so from the mutilated state in which it now appears. It is
that of a male, who is habited in a red cloak, the borders of which are
jagged. This is buttoned in front to the waist by lozenge-shaped morses,
and may have been the garment called the Courtepye, and discloses a short
white tunic or vest, plaited in vertical folds, with a bawdrick round
the body at the hips."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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