Wood Carvings in English Churches: I. Stalls and Tabernacle Work. II. Bishop's Thrones and Chancel Chairs.Bond, Francis
History
Wood Carvings in English Churches: I. Stalls and Tabernacle Work. II. Bishop's Thrones and Chancel Chairs.
Bond, Francis
Choir stalls; Church decoration and ornament; Wood-carving
Henry the Seventh's chapel at Westminster was built partly as a Lady
Chapel, partly to be the mausoleum of Henry VII. and his Queen, and of
Henry VI.[35] Here the canopies with tower-like form and single story and
with the absence of pinnacle are plainly reminiscent of those of Windsor,
and as plainly distinct from current English design, as seen at Manchester
in 1508 and Beverley Minster in 1520; the Westminster and Manchester
canopies were being made together; but those of Westminster have no
connection with the grand Northern series of consecutive designs (131).
Besides Windsor influence there may be direct influence from the
Netherlands; for some of the misericords are evidently from the design of a
painter or engraver, the subjects being too crowded to be properly carved
in wood in so limited a space. Mr J. Langton Barnard says,[36] "While
looking over some engravings on copper of Albert Durer, I came across one
which strikingly resembled the third misericord in the upper row on the
north side; the resemblance was extremely close, especially in the
arrangement and folds of the woman's dress; this is stated by Bartsch in
his _Catalogue_ (vii. 103 and 93) to be one of his earliest plates. Another
plate of Albert Durer closely resembles the corresponding misericord in the
lower row on the south side, as regards the position of the limbs and the
folds of the drapery; while the seventh misericord of the lower row on the
south side almost exactly resembles a plate by Israel van Meckenern, of two
monkeys and three young ones." These stalls formerly occupied only the
three western bays of the chapel; another bay was filled with stalls when
the Order of the Bath was revived by King George the First; the
canopy-fronts for an additional bay on each side being got by sawing off
canopy-backs and putting them up as fronts. The tabernacle work is of the
richest and most diversified character, varying in every canopy (73).
* * * * * {75}
CHAPTER V
RENAISSANCE STALLWORK
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