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Panel subjects, foliaged, as inFigures and canopy, as inFigures and canopy, as inFigures, quarrels, and borders, as inInitial quarrels, badges, &c., as in
St. Peters Manor oft , Norwich.Winchester Cathedral .Cirencester Church.
Barton Church.
Henry the Seventh's Chapel.
From the contracts for the execution of the windows of King’s College Chapel , Cambridge, itwould be naturally inferred that the glass in Henry the Seventh’s chapel was executed by BarnardFlower, for the contract runs thus : “And so seryatly the resydue with good, clene, sure, and per-fyte glasse, and oryent colours and imagery of the story of the olde lawe and of the newe lawe, afterthe forme, maner, goodenes, curiousytie, and clenelynes, in every poynt, of the glasse wyndowes ofthe Kynges newe chapell at Westminster; and also accordyngly and after such maner as oonBarnard Flower, glasyer, late deceased, by indenture stode bounde to doo,” &c. It could, however,by no means have been any of the glass of which there are now any remains which is alluded to, asthis artist practised principally during the latter part of the reign of Henry the Seventh, and died inthe very early part of that of Henry the Eighth ; besides which, the east windows of the King’s Chapelat Westminster contain glass of an earlier date, and the architecture is by no means calculated tohave received windows similar in character to those spoken of in the contract above-mentioned. Thatthe north, south, and west windows of this edifice may have been so filled, although there are no re-maining evidences of it, is not improbable. It has long been erroneously supposed that the eastwindow now in St. Margaret’s church , Westminster, was originally intended for this chapel, and theAntiquarian Society, in 1768, not only gave their sanction to the error, but published a print of thework in their “ Vetusta Monumenta,” in confirmation of it. A long description at the foot states,amongst other matter, that the kneeling portraits at each corner are those of Henry the Seventh andhis queen, when, in fact, they are intended really to represent his son Henry the Eighth and hisqueen Katharine, over whom her patron saint and name-sake is seen, with the pomegranate, the badgeof her nation, above. So on the dexter side in like manner the King is exhibited, with the nationalSaint George and the Union rose, which was the especial badge of that monarch. It is the customof the present age in imitating this style to intersperse diagonal labels containing scripture texts,with quarrels. Although, perhaps, no actual example of such practice could be cited as remainingin any of our churches, yet it is in very good taste, and may therefore no doubt be used to advantage.There are, however, domestic examples remaining in connexion with heraldry, inscribed with thevarious mottoes, which are in Ockholt House, formerly the hunting-lodge of Henry the Sixth; andwe may, therefore, conclude such to have been the taste of his time. These, if used with borders,resolved into headings, * (which are legitimate, from the example before-mentioned at St. Peter’sMancroft,) have a very charming effect, and by these means a voluminous enrichment is accomplishedby very simple means.
The same principles of drawing, both in architecture and figures, prevailed in the middleages, whether the picture was on glass or in mural decorations, commonly, but incorrectly, calledfresco paintings. So many examples of the latter are now known to exist, and are so readily accessi-ble in books of archaeology, that it is needless to enter into detail in the present work, especially asthis department of art is only indirectly connected with the subject before us.
It is well worthy of remark that however deficient the artists of the middle ages were supposedto be in drawing anatomically, they invariably appear to have been guided and governed by feelingsof devotional delicacy, which, as we shall lamentably find, may be in vain sought for in later works,for it seems to have been an inherent and an instinctive principle in them never to display the humanfigure, even in infancy, in disgusting nudity, but they invariably clothed it with a tunic or other gar-ment, not probably to conceal bad drawing but to produce a graceful effect, and ensured fit subjectsfor religious contemplation, without suggesting a single idea contrary to true and perfect modesty.
* See prints of Window of South Aisle, St. Mary’s, Truro ; East Window of Beeford, Yorkshire ; and headings of Deane Church, Lan cashire .