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

Tomb effigies

It is commonplace to find  tombs and effigies of the wealthy and influential in England's cathedrals. The sculpted men and women are usually replendent in their finest clothes and armour. They further display their status and connections through coats of arms and references, pictorial and written, to their civil and/or military achievements. Occasionally, however, poignant additions to the display of swagger can be found. The photographs today show the tomb and effigies of Alexander Denton (d.1576) and his wife Anne (d.1566) in Hereford Cathedral. To most viewers the damage inflicted to faces and hands by Puritan iconoclasts of the seventeenth century are the most eye-catching features.

Rather fewer notice the swaddled child with its pillow, tucked by Anne's leg, an indication that she and the child died during childbirth. This touching feature gives the modern viewer a reminder of the precariousness of life at that time and shows how riches could not transcend such losses.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Robert of Normandy c.1054 -1134

Robert of Normandy (c.1054-1134) was the eldest son of King William I (The Conqueror). Being first-born, all things being equal, he should have succeeded his father as king. However, his relationship with him and with his brothers was so poor it never came to pass. When William I died in 1087 Robert became Duke of Normandy and busied himself helping to lead the First Crusade that captured Jerusalem in 1099. In 1106 he was seized by his youngest brother, King Henry I, and ended his life  in 1134, a prisoner incarcerated in Cardiff Castle. Robert was buried in the chancel of what is now Gloucester Cathedral but at the time was a Benedictine abbey.

This effigy of Robert of Normandy was carved out of Irish bog oak. Wood is not an unusual material for a figure on a tomb, but is less likely for a person of such standing. It dates from c.1240.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

England's cathedrals photographic exhibition, Peter Marlow

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We recently visited Hereford Cathedral to view a photographic exhibition of the forty two cathedrals of England. They were by the Magnum photographer, Peter Marlow (1952-2016). He was commissioned to produce four cathedral photographs by Royal Mail for use on commemorative postage stamps.  But, so taken was he by the buildings that he undertook the project of photographing every one. All bar about half a dozen of the images were taken from the west end of the nave looking east towards the high altar. The photographs were taken in the early morning light before the cathedral doors opened to the public.

click image to enlarge
My first photograph was taken from behind the alabaster tomb and effigy of Sir Richard Pembridge (d.1375). He is depicted in a knight's plate and mail armour with his head resting on his helm and his feet on a lurcher.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Worcester Cathedral and King John

This photograph was taken from in front of the high altar in Worcester Cathedral. It is a fine prospect showing off many of the best features of medieval architecture (and the careful work of Victorian restorers). In the foreground, in a place of honour, is the tomb of King John. Amongst English monarchs King John is possibly the most reviled. Successive tellings of the story of Robin Hood have him as the usurper of King Richard I, and his quarrels with the barons leading to Magna Carta frame him as quarrelsome, spiteful and reluctant to relinquish any of his powers. More recently historians have credited his hard working nature, administrative skills and generalship. None of this has affected his resting place; he was placed in the cathedral in 1216 and he remains there still.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Natural rim lighting

One of the photographic effects that photographers seized on in the early days of photography was rim lighting. This was achieved by placing a light behind a figure or object such that it lit the edge of the subject leaving the rest in deep shade. Rim lighting continues to be a popular technique today. I don't do portrait photography other than for the family album, so it's not part of my repertoire. However, when we were near St Faith's Chapel in Tewkesbury Abbey, I noticed this rim lit recumbent tomb effigy of Archdeacon Hemming Robeson d.1912, a former cleric of the abbey, and seized the moment. The lighting was mainly natural, supplemented a little by spotlights.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Shrine of St Thomas de Cantilupe, Hereford Cathedral

The stone base (tomb chest) of the shrine of Bishop (later Saint) Thomas de Cantilupe was probably erected for his burial in 1287 at this position in the north transept of Hereford Cathedral. It has six bays on each long dimension and two on each of the shorter ends. Each bay has figures, the earliest known "weepers" in England. A slab of Purbeck marble which formerly held an engraved brass supports an arched upper structure. The brightly painted canopy above dates from 2008 and is the work of several artists. Textile hangings on nearby walls recount the life of Thomas, the most famous Herefordshire cleric.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

An Abergavenny tomb

The Gwent/Monmouthshire edition of the Buildings of Wales describes the collection of medieval monuments in the church of St Mary, Abergavenny, also known as Abergavenny Priory, as "one of the outstanding series...in the British Isles". The photograph shows the memorial to Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas who died in 1510. This canopied monument has been mutilated and restored over the years but much of the original structure can still be seen. The main figure shows a bare-headed, armoured knight, his legs straight rather than crossed, and at his feet a lion. Under the arch behind him is an albaster Coronation of the Virgin. A headless Sir Richard and his wife kneel in adoration at her feet. To left and right of Mary are the couple's six standing sons and two kneeling daughters. Monuments from this period are not too uncommon though quite a few suffer from over-restoration. That is not the case here and the structure is all the better for it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Tomb of Robert of Normandy

The tomb of Robert of Normandy (c.1054-1134) can be found in Gloucester Cathedral. Robert was the eldest son of William of Normandy (William the Conqueror). Turbulent family relationships meant that on the death of his father in 1087 Robert became Duke of Normandy but not King of England. In 1106 he was imprisoned by his youngest brother, King Henry 1, and spent the remaining twenty eight years of his life a prisoner in Cardiff castle. His tomb effigy is remarkable for two reasons. Firstly it was not made until a hundred years after his death, in 1240, and when it was, instead of the usual stone it was was carved from Irish bog oak (with a few metal additions such as spurs and sword). Bog oak is a particularly hard form of ancient wood with excellent durability.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Alabaster tomb effigies

When the Puritan iconoclasts took their hammers to the carved tomb effigies of the parish churches of Britain they must have been particularly pleased to come upon those made of alabaster. This soft, slightly translucent stone, a marble-like variety of gypsum, would yield very easily to their blows, and noses, hands and any other decorative protrusion would easily be detached. You can visit churches throughout the land and find examples of this kind of assault. Sometimes restorers have rebuilt that which was lost: elsewhere the vandalism remains for all to see. The photograph shows two such effigies in the Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny. They are Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook d. 1469 and his wife, Margaret. They can be found in the Herbert Chapel alongside six other tombs dating from the early C14 to the late C17.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Gloomy cathedrals

During the dark days of winter cathedrals become places of deep shadows. Only on the bright, cold, sunny days do the clear and stained glass windows admit sufficient light to illuminate the beauties of the mason's and sculptor's art so that it can be appreciated. However, most cathedrals do manage internal lighting at these times, and some use it better than others. Hereford Cathedral has a number of lights that show off arches and column capitals, and these pools of artificial light often compensate for what daylight isn't able to offer, as the photograph above shows.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Chain mail in stone

This tomb effigy of a recumbent knight in chain mail can be found in Worcester Cathedral. A brass nameplate identifies it as Guillaume de Harcourt (d.1223 Lord of Stanton Harcourt), first son of Robert (d.1202 Sheriff of Warwick and Leicester) and Isabel Harcourt. From what I can find out, some or all of this may be wrong. Pevsner describes him as a member of the Harcourt family in the fourteenth century, and many other dates are ascribed. Multiple members of the family called Robert or William don't help. His missing nose was probably the result of a zealous puritan. The tomb seems to have been repainted in 1805, probably following the traces of original paint that survived.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

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

Tomb of King Edward II

There is a general expectation that royal tombs, particularly those of kings and queens, will be found in London. Certainly they can be found in the capital's major churches. However, the cathedrals of the provinces have their share too. King Edward II (1284-1327) was buried in Gloucester Cathedral after a period of turmoil in which his queen turned against him and his place as king was taken by his fourteen year old son. The cause of his demise at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, has long been thought to be murder.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Art personified

The fashion for personification seems to have died out. From the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries it was not uncommon to see statues that represented, for example, Music (often with a lyre), Justice (blindfolded with sword and scales), Industry, Time, and much else. Today's photograph shows a statue of Art personified (with hammer and nails (!) hidden by the flowers). She is at one side of a Cecil monument in St Martin's church, Stamford: Victory (with a gilt Pallas Athene) is at the other. I've never seen this tomb with flowers nearby and a shot contrasting their soft colour with the almost monochrome marble suggested itself. Here is the whole of the tomb.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10