Edward the Confessor Shrine, Westminster Abbey _Illustration from 'The British isles - Cassell Petter & Galpin Part 6 Picturesque Europe. Picturesque Europe was an illustrated set of Magazines published by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. of London, Paris and New York in 1877. The publications depicted tourist haunts in Europe, with text descriptions and steel and wood engravings by eminent artists of the time, such as Harry Fenn, William H J Boot, Thomas C. L. Rowbotham, Henry T. Green , Myles B. Foster, John Mogford , David H. McKewan, William L. Leitch, Edmund M. Wimperis and Joseph B. Smith.
The Chapel containing the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor, lies east of the Sanctuary at the heart of the Abbey. It is closed off from the west by a stone screen, probably of 15th century date, carved with scenes from the Confessor's life. Work is in progress to conserve the floor of this chapel and during this time public access is restricted. An earlier shrine had been erected in 1163, after the Confessor had been canonised. When Henry III rebuilt Edward's Abbey he prepared a new shrine, bringing workmen from Italy. Peter the Roman was the chief artist. On 13 October 1269 the body was brought in solemn procession to its new resting place. The shrine seen today is only a shadow of its former self. It originally had three parts: a stone base decorated with Cosmati work, a gold feretory containing the saint's coffin, and a canopy above it, which could be raised to reveal the feretory or lowered to cover it. The shrine was decorated with gold images of kings and saints. Many sick people came to the shrine to pray for a cure and the steps in the recesses of the shrine base are worn away by the knees of pilgrims (the illustration shown is by David Gentleman). At the Reformation the shrine was dismantled and stored by the monks, although the gold feretory was taken away. The Confessor's body was buried in another part of the Abbey. In the reign of Mary I the shrine was rebuilt. The Purbeck marble base was re-assembled but little care was taken to match the carvings and designs which decorated it. In absence of a feretory the coffin was placed in a hollow in the top part of the stone base, where it still remains. The wooden canopy has been restored and re-painted.
Size: 2566px × 3805px
Photo credit: © Mar Photographics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: &, -painted, abbey, black, british, building, buildings, canopy, carved, chapel, coffin, confessor, cosmati, decorated, drawing, drawings, edward, england, english, engraving, feretory, floor, gold, illustrated, illustration, illustrations, ink, isles, pen, pilgrims, print, prints, publicaion, publication, religious, restored, saint, sancturary, screen, shrine, specimen, stone, westminster, white, woodcut, wooden, work
