Peter de Grandison revisited

About five years ago I took a photograph of the tomb of Peter de Grandison (d.1358) in Hereford Cathedral. It is a typical of its date having a sculpture of the deceased on a raised, panelled tomb chest with rib vaulting and canopies above. The smaller figure carvings depict the Coronation of the Virgin and four saints (Cantilupe, Ethelbert, John the Baptist and Thomas Beckett). My focus this time was the depiction of Peter de Grandison and his armoured upper body. This probably received repairs after damage by iconoclasts. However, it outshines many tombs of its date due to the fine detail that was recoloured in a restoration of the 1940s. Incidentally, the surname can be spelled with a single or double s.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Peter de Grandisson

The tomb of Peter de Grandisson, who died in 1358, can be found in the Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral. It is an architectural confection of sculpture, arches, buttresses, canopies etc that reaches high above his resting place. Visitors to English churches soon become used to tombs that show no colour because they predominate. This tomb, re-painted in the 1940s, reminds us that once all tombs glowed with colour as this one does. However, many seemingly colourless tombs often reveal, to the inquisitive eye, faint traces of the paint that was applied centuries ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the twentieth century restorers used such fragments to inform their choice of colours.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100