Christian monuments in England and Wales : an historical and descriptive sketch of the various classes of sepulchral monuments which have been in use in this country from about the era of the Norman conquest to the time of Edward the Fourth . rneChapel of Merton College, Oxford. 138 CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS which covers the rernains of Bishop Bingham, who died 1247,and was buried in his cathe-dral church. This slab liesupon a raised tomb beneatha rich architectural canopy,and it retains the outlines ofits lost brass, from which itappears that the half-figureof the deceased prelate hadbeen repr
Christian monuments in England and Wales : an historical and descriptive sketch of the various classes of sepulchral monuments which have been in use in this country from about the era of the Norman conquest to the time of Edward the Fourth . rneChapel of Merton College, Oxford. 138 CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS which covers the rernains of Bishop Bingham, who died 1247,and was buried in his cathe-dral church. This slab liesupon a raised tomb beneatha rich architectural canopy,and it retains the outlines ofits lost brass, from which itappears that the half-figureof the deceased prelate hadbeen represented as restingupon a floriated cross. It issomewhat remarkable that thewhole pastoral-staff was intro-duced into this compositionwith the semi-effigy, and con-sequently the staff itself wasplaced beside the stem of The practice of placinghalf-figures above crosses, andupon them, in monumentalbrasses, led to the occasionaluse of a bracket to supportthe semi-effigy. This bracketwas substituted for the cross-head at the head of a shaft, and the composition WaS USU- Despoiled Slab of Bishop Bingham, ,, , - . Salisbury Cathedral. ally completed by a canopy, rising either from the bracket itself, or from independent shafts of. 1 See GougrTs Monuments, vol. i. p. crockets upon the arch over this tombare singularly appropriate as well as beau-tiful, being formed of recumbent figures ofangels, watching, as it were, over the re-pose of the departed prelate. BishopsYork ( 1256) at Salisbury Cathedral,and Cantilupe ( 1282) at HerefordCathedral, were also commemorated byhalf-length figures in brass beneath archi- tectural canopies : these brasses are nowboth lost. I may here notice another example, inwhich, with a half-figure, a part of thehabit is given entire, after the manner ofBishop Binghams pastoral staff. Thisslab is at West Wickham in Kent, and itbears the half-figure of a priest, from whoseleft arm the maniple is suspended, andhangs down below the figu
Size: 1088px × 2296px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectsepulchralmonuments
