Imaging the individual kneeling in prayer in English commemorative painting: continuity and adaptation 1375-1625 (original) (raw)
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Contemporaneity: Historical Presence in Visual Culture, 2019
The Beresford Monument from the Church of St Edmund at Fenny Bentley in Derbyshire is a funerary monument that has received relatively little attention from scholars due to its unusual imagery and the lack of documentary evidence regarding its creation. The alabaster monument depicts Thomas Beresford (d. 1473) and Agnes Hassall (d. 1467) as fully shrouded three-dimensional effigies. Incised around the base of the monument are enshrouded representations of their twenty-one children. This paper analyzes the impact that veiling the bodies of Thomas Beresford and Agnes Hassall has on the effectiveness of the monument as a commemorative tool and situates the shrouded effigies within their broader visual and social context at the turn of the sixteenth century. Rather than dismiss the unusual imagery of the Beresford Monument as an expedient solution selected by sculptors who did not know what Thomas Beresford and Agnes Hassall actually looked like, this paper argues that shrouding the effigies was a deliberate commemorative strategy meant to evoke specific responses in the monument’s viewers. Although there is little concrete information about the tomb’s commission, contextualizing it by examining the monument in concert with other aspects of late medieval culture—including purgatorial piety, macabre texts and imagery, and ex votos—can provide a richer understanding of the object’s potentiality for its beholders. The anonymizing aspect of the shroud ultimately enabled viewers to identify freely and easily with the individuals depicted on the monument, which would have encouraged them to pray for the souls of Thomas and Agnes, thus perpetuating their memories and reducing their time in purgatory.
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 2021
Two fragments of a screen painted c. 1500 in the parish church of St Michael and All Angels at Hamstall Ridware in Staffordshire are analysed with reference to their imagery, handling and original setting. Although now mounted on a modern reredos, the panels were made for use in the church, and probably formed part of the rood screen. Unusually, they were painted on the interior, east-facing sides of the screen they occupied: this can be established by analysis of the panels' structure and the extent of the painting. The iconography is unusual in various ways. Notably, one of the panels is devoted to a cycle of images which constitute the seven sheddings of Christ's blood. While the seven sheddings is a recognised phenomenon of late medieval devotional literature, no other image cycle of the sort is known from England. The implications of this are briefly discussed in relation to Continental evidence, and the sheddings rehearsed using an English version of about the same date as the panels in order to suggest why the parish might have wanted a painted version of the cycle and how it could have been used. The way the artist handled his subject matter is also discussed as an illustration of the fact that aesthetically undistinguished work was perfectly acceptable for solemn imagery at the ritual heart of an imposing church. While this may occasion no surprise, the fact has been very little discussed to date, despite its importance for a holistic grasp of English art of the period.
Early secular effigies in England The th
List of plates VII I. Preliminary remarks ι i.i State of research and points of departure ι 1.2 Materials used 1.3 Some remarks on the persons commemorated. Their social status. The outlook on life 2. The tomb 2.1 Its place inside the church. Tomb chests and recesses. 2.2 The slab and other accessories 2.3 Foot support 2.4 Head support 2.4.1 Introduction 2.4.2 From the absence of the cushion to the use of the single and the double cushion 2.4.3 The double cushion with attendant angels ... 3. Costume 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The costume on lady effigies 3.2 The costume on civilian effigies 3.4 The costume and armour on military effigies .... 3.4.1 Head-coverings 3.4.2 The hauberk and the representation of mail. Leg defences and other pieces of armour .... 3.4.2 The surcoat 3.4.4 The sword, sword-belt and the shield 4. Attitude 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The hands 4.2.1 The west-country school. Mid-thirteenth century 4.2.2 The early sword-handling knightly effigies ... 4.2.3 The London workshops up to the late thir teenth century and their influence 4.2.4 The later sword-handling type of knightly effigy VI CONTENTS 4.2.5 Effigies with their hands joined in prayer. Some other divergent attitudes 99 4.3 The legs 103 4.3.1 Introduction 103 4.3.2 The straight-legged attitude 103 4.3.3 The early cross-legged attitude 4.3.4 The cross-legged effigies of the second half of the thirteenth century 4.3.5 The lively martial attitude 4.3.6 The origin and meaning of the crossed legs.. .
Early secular effigies in England: The thirteenth century
1980
List of plates VII I. Preliminary remarks ι i.i State of research and points of departure ι 1.2 Materials used 1.3 Some remarks on the persons commemorated. Their social status. The outlook on life 2. The tomb 2.1 Its place inside the church. Tomb chests and recesses. 2.2 The slab and other accessories 2.3 Foot support 2.4 Head support 2.4.1 Introduction 2.4.2 From the absence of the cushion to the use of the single and the double cushion 2.4.3 The double cushion with attendant angels ... 3. Costume 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The costume on lady effigies 3.2 The costume on civilian effigies 3.4 The costume and armour on military effigies .... 3.4.1 Head-coverings 3.4.2 The hauberk and the representation of mail. Leg defences and other pieces of armour .... 3.4.2 The surcoat 3.4.4 The sword, sword-belt and the shield 4. Attitude 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The hands 4.2.1 The west-country school. Mid-thirteenth century 4.2.2 The early sword-handling knightly effigies ... 4.2.3 The London workshops up to the late thir teenth century and their influence 4.2.4 The later sword-handling type of knightly effigy VI CONTENTS 4.2.5 Effigies with their hands joined in prayer. Some other divergent attitudes 99 4.3 The legs 4.3.1 Introduction 103 4.3.2 The straight-legged attitude 103 4.3.3 The early cross-legged attitude 4.3.4 The cross-legged effigies of the second half of the thirteenth century 4.3.5 The lively martial attitude 4.3.6 The origin and meaning of the crossed legs.. .