Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][merged small]

foliage and square abacus, showed clearly the lateness of the style. The choir or chancel was in all probability the oldest part of the building. A triplet of lofty round-headed windows in the east, and the sedilia, a triplet of pointed arches, evidently inserted, are pure Early-English. The chapter house, which ranges with the north transept, was oblong in shape; it had in front a round-headed door, with an arch of the same form on each side, all en riched with Norman ornaments. The room had a vaulting in nine compartments, supported by four rather slender columns, two of them cylindrical, the other two octagonal. This interior might possibly belong to the original design, but was doubtful. He supposed that the nave of the church, and the range in which the chapter house stands, formed the sides of a square occupied by cloisters. He thought it probable, too, that the present farm-house had been built from the monastic remains, and this had doubtless much confused the general plan. The length of the church is about 162 feet, of which the nave is 105. The width of the chancel and of the nave from pier to pier is 26 feet. The distance between the piers of the nave is 9 feet, but the westernmost arch is somewhat larger than the others. The girth of each columnar pier is 14 feet, which gives as its diameter upwards of 4 feet. The total width of the nave and aisles (internally) is about 50 feet. The transverse length at the transepts 82 feet. The chapter house is 41 feet by 31 feet. In concluding his GENT. MAG. VOL. XLIV.

lecture the rev. speaker said that in beauty of situation this ruin is not surpassed by any of those which the artist as well as the antiquary love to visit. It stands on the banks of the Severn, a little above the spot where its valley is narrowed between the steep and almost precipitous slopes which, a little higher up, are connected by the celebrated iron bridge of Coalbrookdale. The monastic buildings lie between the church and the river. On the south side of the former the ground rises rapidly, and at a short distance forms a bold and varied outline of hills mostly covered with wood. On the opposite side of the river the bank is still more abrupt, and rises in irregular ridges to the foot of the Wrekin, which towers boldly over the landscape.

In the afternoon an excursion was made to Hawkstone, the ruined mansion of Moreton Corbet being visited by the way. In the Waterloo tent, which was pitched at the base of the Red Castle, a splendid entertainment was provided by Lord Hill, and presided over by his brother Sir Robert Hill; and a party afterwards inspected the neighbouring camp called the Bury Walls.

An evening meeting was held in the Music Hall, in order to hear a lecture from John Mitchell Kemble, esq. on the Heathen Graves of Northern Germany.

Wednesday, August 8. The whole of this morning was occupied by an excursion, made to the Roman remains at Wroxeter, the abbeys of Buildwas and Wenlock, and the church of Atcham. At Wroxeter 2 P

many relics of the Roman city of Uriconium are preserved, particularly in the grounds of J. Stanier, esq. and Mr. Oatley, and it was suggested that an exchange might be advantageously made between those gentlemen, in order to arrange some of the columns, &c. in their proper positions. At Wenlock the remains of the abbey were explained by the Rev. C. H. Hartshorne. The plan of the priory church was cruciform, doubtless with a central spire. Its extreme length was 400 feet, that of the transept 166, the nave 156. The principal remains are a portion of the west part of the nave, the north and south transepts, and the foundations of the columns which supported the central tower. The architecture is Early Pointed. The remaining portion of the south aisle of the nave is vaulted, but very low, which was to give room for a large apartment or chapel above, to which the monks had immediate access from their dormitory. It was sug

gested that this may have been the Scriptorium. The Chapter-house is perfect, and presents an interesting example of Norman architecture: its plan is an oblong square, and its walls are ornamented with interlaced arches (as shewn in two plates of Britton's Architectural Antiquities, vol. iv. and vol. v. pl. 27.) In the priory buildings, of which an engraving will be found in our Magazine for August, 1842, is a remarkable cloister in two stories, one hundred feet in length. The altar of what was the prior's private chapel or oratory is also represented in the same Magazine, and on it is now placed a handsomely carved stone lectern which has been recently dug up.*

The company were afterwards entertained to luncheon by the mayor of Wenlock, H. Dickenson, esq.; and, in returning to Shrewsbury, the party, to the number of 170, were received to dinner by Robert Burton, esq. at Longnor hall.

*For the accompanying views of the ruins of Wenlock and Buildwas we are indebted to Mr. John Walton, the proprietor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle, at the suggestion of Mr. Edward Edwards, bookseller, of Pride Hill, Shrewsbury. Mr. Edwards has formed a large collection of books, MSS. and Prints, illustrative of the county of Salop, which is now temporarily deposited in the rooms of the Natural History Society, with the view to its purchase by public subscription; and we may also add that in the hands of Mr. Edwards remain the unsold copies of Lloyd's Collections for the History of Shropshire, a quarto volume which was edited by the late Mr. Dukes.

[graphic][merged small][merged small]
[graphic][merged small]

Thursday, August 9. In the Section of ARCHITECTURE were read papers :1. On Ludlow Church, by R. Kyrke Penson, esq. F S.A. architect.

2. On St. Mary's church, Shrewsbury, by Matthew Holbeche Bloxam, esq. F.S. A.

3. On the Pictorial Decoration of Ancient Churches, by George Scharf, esq. jun. F.S.A. He began by describing the painted decorations on the funereal chambers of the Egyptians and Etruscans; the latter, having been imitated by the Romans, were continued by the early Christians during the period of their secret assemblies in the catacombs. Here at first were painted joyful scenes of love feasts, and pastoral subjects in which the figure of the good shepherd, carrying the lamb on his shoulders, was understood by the faithful to symbolize the Saviour, but to the uninitiated it seemed merely to represent a youth with a lamb, as the god Mercury was often depicted. Certain parts of these catacombs had especial uses. The baptistery of the catacombs of St. Pontianus is clearly to be traced from the well still remaining in one corner of the apartment, and from a large jewelled cross rising from flowers, with the letters Alpha and Omega painted on one wall, and an bistorical representation of our Lord's baptism, in full colours, at right angles with it. When Constantine publicly professed Christianity, and founded the City of Constantinople, churches were expressly erected retaining the cavern-like character of the still venerated catacombs. The chapel of Galla Placidia, the sister of Honorius, A.D. 440, is an example of this kind of resemblance. Mosaic was introduced at

this time upon walls as a means of pictorial decoration. At Pompeii and elsewhere, in classic times, such pictures were exclusively confined to the floors; but in the age of Constantine they decorated the roof, and first appear at Rome in the ceiling mosaics of Sta. Costanza, A.D. 399. The ornaments consist of cupids and vine-branches, upon a white ground. Richer mosaics of a subsequent period display figures in gold, and variegated dresses on a deep blue ground; and at a still later time-a sign of the decline of art-the figures ap. pear in gay colours on a bright burnished gold ground. A figure was shown of this late period, of St. Agnes at Rome, date A.D. 625. The best early mosaic is the baptism in the old baptistery at Ravenna, A.D. 451; and the finest mosaic in Rome of the earlier time, is in the head of the tribune of S. Cosmo and Damiano, A.D. 526. Mr. Scharf called attention to the important work of M. Salzenberg, pub. lished under the authority of the Prussian government, which gives the full architectural details and paintings of Sta. Sophia at Constantinople, which is so important a relic of the time of Justinian, A.D. 537. The Sultan had permitted M. Fossati (an architect employed to repair the structure) to remove much of the plaster that covered the internal paintings of the mosque, for the express purpose of their being copied, but required that they should be covered up again, alleging that his nation was not prepared to receive them as yet. The earliest appearance of the Madonna enthroned occurs in an adoration of the Magi, a mosaic in S. Apollinare at Ravenna, A.D. 556. After alluding to the various

councils connected with celebrated discussions about image worship, the lecturer showed a drawing of the mosaics of old St. Peter's at Rome, which had been destroyed in the removal of the church to make way for the present building: the original drawing is preserved in the library of the Vatican. Later mosaics are worthy of attention, although of very inferior workmanship, especially one at Spoleto, A.D. 1207, and the ship in a storm, called the Navicella, designed by Giotto, and still in the vestibule of St. Peter's at Rome, A.D. 1298. There remains an account of the church of Paulinus, A.D. 394, built at Fondi, which had the apsis decorated with a cross in a garden, together with a personification of the Trinity; and in the same church also was a representation of the Last Judgment, in which the good and bad were typified as lambs. Subjects from the Holy Scriptures were arranged at a very early period upon the walls in the form of type and antitype, and the Venerable Bede informs us that his instructor St. Benedict Biscop made several journeys to Rome to procure books, paintings, and various sacred utensils for the benefit of his church at Wearmouth. In his fifth voyage, A.D. 678, he brought home a series of pictures, which he hung on his walls in the manner just described. Thus, according to his own words, "Isaac, represented carrying the wood to the sacrifice, was made to correspond with the figure of our Lord bearing his cross." And again," The Brazen Serpent elevated on the tree, bore reference to the figure of the Saviour extended on the cross." The nave of the basilica of St. John Lateran at Rome is adorned with mosaic scenes from the Old Testament; and the nave of the church of Mourcale, in Sicily, founded in 1174, contains scenes from both. They formed an extensive series in a double row, wrought in mosaic of the brightest colours upon a bright gold ground. In fact, at first sight, the whole church seems literally lined with gold, which, being lighted mainly by the reflection from the floor, produces a singularly gorgeous and yet harmonious effect. It is only to be equalled in this respect by St. Mark's at Venice. Both, it may be observed, are entirely of Byzantine origin. The church of Mourcale is further remarkable as the first instance of the completely developed pointed style of architecture in Italy. The earliest building in the pointed style erected north of Rome was the church of S. Francesco at Assisi, begun by a German in 1228, and finished in four years. It consists, in fact, of three churches, one over the other, and is one of the finest specimens of mural decoration extant in Italy.

Most of the subjects in the nave of the upper church relate to the actions of St. Francis, and those of the middle church exhibit his glorification. The lower church contains his tomb, which has never been disturbed, but it is encased in architectural decoration of a comparatively modern time, and in wretched taste. The son of the architect of this church designed the famous cathedral or duomo of Florence. The tribune or apsis at the east end of the Italian and Byzantine churches was in England replaced by the large east window, and the brilliancy of the ancient mosaics is thus surpassed by the purer lustre of transparent glass.

King Henry III. was an especial patron of the fine arts, and numerous records of the works he commissioned are still in existence; indeed in this country we are richer than any other in records of that nature. Henry III. ordered the subjects of the Twelve Apostles, the Virgin, the Last Judgment, and the history of St. Edward the Confessor to be painted at Westminster. Many others are on record at Winchester, Guildford, and his other palaces. The Chapel of St. Stephen at Westminster was, until the destruction of the Houses of Parliament in 1834, a rich example of the advance of the arts in the reign of Edward III. The Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre at Winchester still contains some excellently preserved historical paintings relating to the passion of our Lord, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem. The Lady Chapel of the same cathedral retains an interesting series of paintings from the apocryphal history of the Virgin, by Jacobus de Voragine. In the galilee at Durham are rich decorations and colour, and two admirably preserved figures of King Richard I. and Bishop Pudsey. A large painting of the Last Judgment remains in Trinity Church at Coventry, and several curious paintings have been discovered in Gawsforth Church, Cheshire, and admirably described by Mr. Massie. Among them was the subject of St. Christopher, upon whose image whoever gazed was thought to be safe from death for that day. In Shorwell church in the Isle of Wight, at Castle Rising in Norfolk, and in many other places, were mural paintings well deserving a visit.

Mr. Scharf next referred to the grand series of paintings in the Sistine Chapel at Rome, commenced in 1474. On one side was a series of frescoes from the life of Moses, and on the other scenes from the life of Christ. At the east end, in the centre, was the Assumption of the Virgin, and on one side Moses in the bulrushes, to correspond with the infant Saviour in the manger. Michael Angelo, in painting

the ceiling, A.D. 1509, still further continued the general scheme; and afterwards the celebrated Raphael was employed to make designs for tapestries, to be hung upon the lower part of the walls on state occasions. The tapestries no longer exist, but the original designs are preserved, and are generally known as the Cartoons at Hampton Court Palace. Mr. Scharf devoted considerable time to describing the original arrangement of these tapestries, and exhibited a large painting of the interior of the Sistine Chapel, with its elabo rate decorations.

He

Mr. Scharf was next called upon to give a few remarks upon the Painted Glass in St. Mary's Church, Shrewsbury. This glass, having been mostly procured from abroad, affords a singular variety of styles and periods. The great east window, brought from St. Chad's church, and previously it is believed from the church of the Grey Friars in Shrewsbury, engaged especial attention, as glass of an early period. Much of the modern windows was commented on, and afforded an opportunity for the enunciation of artistic principles. Mr. Scharf expressed a hope that, now that the chemical manufacture of the colours had attained so much perfection, we should no longer begin by judging a window by the beauty of its colours, but look at once for its mental qualifications, the significance of its arrangement and the technical merits of the design. censured the practice of making the picture part of the window a subject apparently out of the church, seen through a frame; it should always be a part of the building and in accordance with the walls around it. The object of the old painters in executing their figures was not to deceive by actual roundness of surface, but to suggest subjects to the mind by a conventional treatment they always contrived to preserve a flatness of appearance which was perfectly compatible with correctness of drawing. He pointed out especially a side window in the north transept representing the Virgin and Child beneath a canopy, standing on a bracket. The light and shade fell so naturally that the figure seemed to stand out in actual relief into the church, so that all idea of a window was lost. The lower part of the design, moreover, represented a stone wall with broken edges, and two slit windows, which were in themselves dark, as if seen externally. The arrangement of colour in the old German glass, especially of the south aisle, merited particular attention, and contrasted singularly with the modern productions, where the brightest colours were often employed upon subordinate parts, to the detriment of many really more impor

tant. The painted windows illustrative of the life of St. Bernard obtained especial admiration; and the composition of the Crucifixion on the north side of the baptistery afforded comparisons with the beautiful window of St. Margaret's, at Westminster, and the great east window of King's College chapel at Cambridge,—a chapel which contains in its side windows a series of subjects from the old and new testament, arranged as type and antitype, and only to be equalled by the comprehensive decorations of Palermo, St. Mark's at Venice, and the Sistine chapel at Rome.

In the course of the afternoon the members assembled at St. Mary's, and, after Mr. Bloxam had explained the architectural features of the church, Mr. Scharf resumed his observations on the glass, and extended his remarks in fuller detail before the windows themselves, passing round the building in regular succession, followed by a numerous crowd of deeply interested auditors.

The SECTION OF ANTIQUITIES was this morning opened by its president, Mr. W. W. E. Wynne, M.P., F.S.A. with some interesting remarks, in the course of which he related that he himself had made an important discovery which dispelled a very popular error. It was commonly supposed that Edward II. was presented to the Welsh in infancy, and immediately made Prince of Wales. He had, however, referred to the records in the Tower, and found he was not made Prince of Wales till he was 17 years old. He had informed Miss Strickland of this fact, but he regretted to say she had made no use of it.

The Rev. J. G. Cumming, M.A., F.G.S., of Lichfield, then read a long and interesting paper on certain British and Scandinavian Crosses in the Isle of Man, hitherto undescribed. He had procured casts of all the best of these crosses, and he exhibited rubbings taken from them upon paper. The stone of which they consist is usually a bluish grey schist; one is of basalt, and another of red-sandstone. The ornaments have been carved or rather scratched with nails or other rude tools; the patterns having for their groundwork that interlacing of cables which was naturally suggested to the ideas of a seafaring people-sometimes fancifully branching out into fishes and serpents. Mr. Cumming is inclined to assign their era principally to the Scandinavians of the 11th or 12th centuries. On some of them are found inscriptions, in runes of various forms, and evidently in different dialects, the earlier containing Scandinavian, and the latter Gaelic names. Twenty-eight of these crosses have been etched already. In the second volume of the Archæological Journal are two

« PreviousContinue »