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Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XX.

WELLS CATHEDRAL CHURCH-VIEW OF THE NORTH TOWER SHOWING THE GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE

IMAGERY AND SCULPTURES.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

THE IMAGERY AND SCULPTURES

ON THE WEST FRONT OF

WELLS CATHEDRAL CHURCH.

COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, ESQ., M.A.;

WITH SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE

IDENTIFICATION OF SOME OF THE IMAGES,

W. R. LETHABY, ESQ.

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, PARLIAMENT MANSIONS,
VICTORIA STREET, WESTMINSTER.

1904.

.FROM

ARCHAEOLOGrIA,

VOL. LIX.

The Imagery and Sculptures on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.
By W. H. St. John Hope, Esq., M.A. ; with Suggestions as to the identification
of some of the Images, by W.R. Lethaby, Esq.

Read 23rd and 30th June, 1904.

In July, 1902, one of tlie images on the upper part of the north tower at Wells
suddenly fell to the ground and was broken into many pieces. There had not
been any reason for supposing that this or any other of the many images that
adorn the west front was in a dangerous condition, but the Dean and Chapter at
once took the wise and prudent course of ordering an inspection of the images, so
far as this could be done without scaffolding. The report of the Surveyor to the
Chapter, Mr. Edmund Buckle, was far from reassuring, and he recommended the
substitution of proper bronze holdfasts for the decaying iron cramps by which
most of the images were then secured. As a consequence of this report the Dean
and Chapter ordered a section of the work to be taken in hand, beginning with
the north tower, and when this was finished the scaffolding was moved to another
section, and so eventually across the whole of the front and to the gable of the
nave. All the images have thus as far as possible been made safe, and a deep
debt of gratitude is due to the Dean and Chapter for thus helping to prolong the
lives of these priceless sculptures, many of which were found to be in a very
precarious state.

Soon after the work was begun, our Fellow Canon Church, who is also Sub-
dean of Wells, in reporting the matter to the Society, suggested that advantage
should be taken of the scaffolding to inspect at close quarters and make notes
of the whole of the imagery and sculpture groups accessible from it. I was

The Imagery and Sculptures

accordingly instructed by tbe Executive Committee to undertake this, and through
the facilities afforded me by the courtesy of the Dean and Chapter notes have now
been made of all the imagery and sculptures, except those of the Resurrection tier,
to which the scaffold did not extend.

When the front was under repair about thirty years ago advantage was
taken of the scaffold then set up, by Mr. T. W. Phillips of Wells, to secure a
nearly complete set of photographs of the images, prints of which have lately
been added to the Society’s library. A further and in some respects more com-
plete series has been taken from the scaffolding during the recent works by
Messrs. Dawkes and Partridge of Wells, from which lantern slides have been
made for the Society’s collection. The Society is therefore possessed of ample
material for a paper on the Imagery and Sculpture of Wells.

As the recent examination of the figures has brought to light a number of
facts that have not hitherto been recorded, it has been thought advisable to
embody them in a general review of the imagery as a whole, with a detailed
description of every image and sculpture by way of Appendix.

The western end of the cathedral church of Wells may be described as
consisting of a great screen of tabernacle work, covering not only the west end of
the nave and its aisles, but enveloping the free sides of the two towers that
extend severally northwards and southwards beyond the last bay of each aisle ;
it is also carried round all the buttresses of the towers as well as those that
terminate the nave arcades. (Plate XX.) Of these buttresses two face eastwards,
two on each tower face northwards and southwards respectively, and six face
westwards. Most of the niches were originally filled with images or sculptures,
but owing to the south tower being covered as to its south and east sides by the
cloister and its western alley, the imagery does not extend beyond the west and
south faces of the westernmost of its south buttresses. The south face of the
eastern buttress of the north tower also has never held any images.

The whole of this screen is divided horizontally by a marble stringcourse into
two main divisions.

The lower division is about 30 feet high, and is subdivided into (i) a plinth or
ground story of plain ashlar work for about one-third its height, and (ii) a series
of pairs of trefoiled niches, each pair being contained under a pointed arch
enclosing a sunk quatrefoil and surmounted by a straight-sided pediment. In
every niche is, or was, a standing image set upon a low moulded pedestal, and in
each quatrefoil a half-length figure of an angel issuing from the clouds. Above

■

Vol. LIX. PI. XXL

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

the pediments of the niches is a second series of sunk quatrefoils, of larger size
than those below, 8 continued in a somewhat awkward fashion both upon and
within the angles of the buttresses. These quatrefoils contain groups of
sculpture. The pairs of niches are interrupted on the three free faces of the
towers and across the west end of the aisles by coupled windows which take their
places. The arrangement is also broken by the intrusion into it of the great
western portal. This is surmounted by a special niche of different size and shape
from the rest, forming a broad shallow recess with trefoiled head, which is carried
up so high as to intrude somewhat upon the large flanking quatrefoil panels. It
contains a mutilated representation of the so-called Coronation of the Blessed
Virgin.

The upper division of the front is about 42 feet high, and consists of a series of
tall pointed panels. On the buttresses and between the western windows of the
nave these contain a double tier of niches, and there are narrow pairs of panels,
similarly divided, on the faces of the towers. All these niches contain standing
images, save those on the fronts of the buttresses, which have, with one exception,
seated figures. Above the pediments of the panels space is left below the great
stringcourse for an arcade of trefoiled arches carried by detached shafts, with
spandrels filled with beautifully carved foliage. These arches form a continuous
band of housings carried all round the front, including the buttresses, containing
groups of figures representing the Besurrection of the Dead.

Above the west end of the nave the space between the flanking buttresses
has, instead of a pointed gable, a horizontal band of imagery work, in two
tiers. (Plate XXI.) The lower contains a row of low trefoiled niches with
figures representing the nine Orders of Angels ; the upper, a row of tall and
narrow niches, also trefoiled, with figures of the Twelve Apostles. b Surmounting
the whole is a rectangular pediment containing an octofoil panel in the middle
with the lower part of a figure of Our Lord in Majesty, flanked by two wide
trefoiled niches, now empty. This image of Our Lord is contemporary with
the thirteenth-century work in which it is set.

At the present time the images and sculptures that remain in the niches
are popularly known by the names and ascriptions conferred upon them by
Mr. Cockerell nearly sixty years ago. c As these names are for the most part

a The openings measure about 3 feet across.

b These sets of images are of different dates, and both are considerably later than the series
below them.

c C. It. Cockerel], Iconography of the West Front of Wells Cathedral (Oxford and London, 1851)-

a 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

purely assumptive, and tlie ascriptions of the sculptures sometimes obviously
wrong, it has been thought better and more convenient to distinguish every panel
and niche by a particular letter or number, and in such a way as to indicate not
only its horizon but its exact place in the series. a

If the Apostles and Orders of Angels, and the Resurrection tier, be omitted,
there is no difficulty in dividing all the sculpture groups and images into those
that are placed respectively north and south of the Coronation group over the
west doorway.

It is accordingly proposed to distinguish

(i) the lower tier of niches by Roman numerals, I, II, III, etc. reckoning

outwards from the doorway, and prefixed by N. or S. according to
their position north or south of it.

(ii) the half-length figures of angels in the smaller quatrefoils by Roman

capital letters, A, B, C, etc. prefixed as above by N. or S.

(iii) the sculpture groups in the larger quatrefoils by the smaller Roman

letters, a, b, c, etc. prefixed by N. or S. Since there are more than
twenty-six quatrefoils on the north side, the rest may be indicated by
double letters, aa, bb, cc, dd, and ee.

(iv) the niches of the upper series by Arabic numerals. If these be num-

bered vertically, all the lower rank will have odd numbers and the
upper rank even numbers. Every number is to be prefixed by H. or
S. and counted outwards from the middle vertical line. b

The letters and numbers thus tabulate themselves
Lower tier :

Images : S.I, S.II, etc. ; N.I, N.II, etc.

Angels : S.A, S.B, etc . ; N.A, bT.B, etc.

Groups : S.a, S.b, etc. ; N.a, N.b, etc.

a Cockerell has given numbers to the subjects of his first, third, and fourth and fifth tiers, but
uses the same form of number for each. A more recent writer, the Rev. Percy Dearmer, in The
Cathedral Church of Wells (Bell’s Series, London, 1899), proposes to number the whole of the existing
images and sculptures (excluding the half-angels) only, consecutively from bottom to top, beginning
on the south side.

b The images of this series on the fronts of the buttresses might be further distinguished by the
addition (B) to the number.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

Upper tier :

Lower Series : S.l, S.3, S.5, etc. ; N.l, N.3, N.5, etc.

Upper Series : S.2, S.4, S.6, etc. ; N.2, N.4, X.6, etc.

The places available for images and groups, and the number of existing
sculptures, are as follows :

Lower tier :

Images: S.II— S.XXIII

= 22, of which

. 2:

remain.

N.II— X.XXXIX=38 a „

Angels: S.A— S.K

= 11

X.A — N.S

= 19 b „

Groups : S.a — S.r

= 18

„

N.a— X.ee

= 81

”

er tier :

Images : S.l— S.42

=42

X.l— X.68 )

X.73— N.78 J

Giving a total of 255 „

183

It will be seen from the above table that the only part of the series that has
suffered any serious loss is the lower tier, and this loss is confined almost entirely
to the images that once filled the western niches, of which only two remain at
each end out of a probable forty-two. Of the angels nine have gone, and there
has been a loss of eleven of the northern and three of the southern sculpture-
groups. On the north and east faces of the north tower, although the figures and
sculptures are equally within reach, they have suffered hardly any loss, only one
image and two of the groups of sculptures being missing.

The reason for the destruction of the western groups and images is not easy
to explain, and it is equally difficult to say when it took place. 0

a Niches N.XL, N.XLI, and N.69 — N.72 exist, hut apparently never contained images.
b There is a quatrefoil N.T, hut it is on that face of the buttress of the tower which seems
never to have had any figures, and therefore probably did not contain an angel.

c A great deal of the damage to the angels and sculpture groups has been caused by boys
throwing stones at the birds which have nested behind them.

The Imagery and Sculptures

Before discussing what the original scheme may have been, it will be as well
to quote the one early notice of the imagery which has come down to us, that
given by William of Worcester in his Itinerary :

Memorandum quod in occidentali et boriali parte ecclesie principalis sancti Andree
sunt tres magne boterasses cum tribus ordinibus magnorum ymaginum de veteri lege.

Et in plana occidentali ecclesie sunt sex magne et alte boterasses situate ad latitudines
•6- pedum et densitudines circa trium virgarum cum tribus ordinibus magnarum ymaginum
de nova lege sculptarum.

Et in occidentali et boriali parte dicte ecclesie sunt due maxime boterasses ad
altitudines circa dx- pedum cum tribus ordinibus sculptarum [sic] cum magnis ymaginibus
de nova lege. a

William’s “ west and north part ” in the first paragraph refers of course to
the north tower, which has one buttress facing east and two facing north ; its two
western buttresses he includes among the “ six great and tall ” buttresses of the
west front described in the second paragraph. The third paragraph evidently
refers to the south tower, but according to William’s reckoning it has three
buttresses, like the north tower, whereas he describes two only, and only one of
these (viz. the south-western), if he means the two southern, seems ever to have
had images in its niches.

It will be noticed that the buttresses are described as having three orders or
tiers of great images, of which those on the north tower represented the Old Law,
and those along the front and on the south tower the Hew Law.

It would be interesting to know why they are so described. So far as we can
tell, there is nothing about the images to justify such an ascription ; it is possible,
however, that William was led astray by the groups of sculpture. These certainly
represent scenes from the Old Law and the Hew Law, but even then they do not
correspond at all with his division, the sculptures of the Old Law being all south
of the great west door, while those of the Hew Law begin on the north side of the
door and extend northwards, and all round the north tower.

From these preliminary remarks it is time to turn to the images themselves.
These are all carved out of the same material, the local Doulting stone of
which the cathedral church itself is built, and, with some few exceptions, each is

3 James Nasmith, Itinera, ria Symonis Simeonis et Willelmi de Worcestre (Cambridge, 1778), 285.
The above passage occurs on p. 211 of the original MS., and has been most kindly collated for me
by my friend Mr. J. W. Clark, F.S.A.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

wrought from a single block which is generally hollowed out at the back for
lightness. The figures vary considerably in height, a few measuring as much as
8 feet, but the majority are about life size. In placing them no attempt has been
made to range those of a height together, and many of the shorter figures are
perched on blocks or carved pedestals to raise them. a

The costumes throughout exhibit a singular uniformity. Bishops, priests,
and deacons are invariably vested for mass ; bishops of Rome wear plain conical
tiaras instead of mitres, but there is no instance of a pall to distinguish an arch-
bishop from a bishop. Kings, nobles, and other laymen wear loose or belted
tunics, reaching to the ankles, with mantles, and crowns or round caps on their
heads according to their degree. Ladies are clad in long gowns that cover the
feet, and mantles, and wear veils, with crowns or caps, etc. over them, according
as they are of royal descent or otherwise. Warriors are shown in complete
armour and short surcoats. The figures are further characterised by an universal
omission of ornamental detail : there are no orphreys to the vestments, no patterns
on dresses or borders, no jewels on the crowns, caps, or belts b ; but a sparing use
of brooches of simple form may be found among the figures of the ladies. The
sceptres, 0 staves, swords, or lances that were borne by many of the figures were
not carved in stone, but seem, from the absence of all traces of metal, to have been
of oak or some other wood, which has long perished.

In dealing with the subjects of the imagery and sculptures it will be
convenient to begin with the great west doorway.

This is set, owing to the thickness of the wall, within an outer arch, simply
moulded, with the orders carried by detached shafts with richly carved capitals.
The doorway itself is double, consisting of two plain pointed openings divided by
a clustered shaft with carved capital. The pointed tympanum above is almost
filled with a large sunk quatrefoil with moulded border, containing a mutilated
figure of Our Lady and Child and flanked by two censing angels. (Plate XXII.
fig. 1.)

The figure of Our Lady has unfortunately lost the head. She is clad in an
under robe with narrow girdle strap, open at the neck and showing an under

a Owing to the upper niches of the upper tier being somewhat taller than the lower niches,
nearly all the standing images within them are raised on blocks to bring the heads well under cover
of the canopies ; this is seldom the case with the images in the lower niches.

b It has been suggested that in view of the fact that all the figures were once coloured, the
ornamental details may have formed part of the painted decoration.

c The sceptre seems in every case to have been held in the right hand.

The Imagery and Sculptures

dress fastened at the throat by a small brooch, and a mantle which hangs over
the shoulders and is brought round from the right side over the knees. The right
hand, as may be seen from the socket for it in the knee, once held a sceptre, but
both hand and sceptre are broken away. The left hand supports upon the left
knee a seated figure of the Infant Saviour, but the upper half of this has been
destroyed. Our Lady is seated upon a bench covered with a cloth and with richly
carved ends, and has her left foot upon a dragon.

The abundant traces of colouring show that Our Lady’s robe was red, and
the mantle black with a lining of green. The Infant Saviour’s robe was crimson.
The carving of the bench has also been painted green. The back of the niche
has been coloured red, upon which are traces of green, perhaps the remains of a
diaper. The flat surface outside the quatrefoil was painted red like that within,
and apparently also with a green diaper pattern.

Round the margin of the field of the quatrefoil, and arranged concentrically
with its side and top limbs, is a series of large plugholes, and there is a similar
plughole filled with lead over each end of the bench. Surrounding these latter are
two concentric rings of small wooden plugs, and two like rings of plugs encircle
the place of Our Lady’s head. There is nothing whatever to indicate the nature
of the ornaments for which these fixings were made, but the small size of the
wooden plugs shows that they were something slight. 3

There is another group of plugholes over the capital of the dividing pillar of
the doorway, but there is nothing to show what was affixed there.

The flanking angels, which are beautifully designed to fit their places, have
unfortunately lost their heads and arms, and their censers. They are vested in
amices and girded albes, and their wings were painted green.

The richly carved order of the arch that encloses the doorway seems to have
had the carving painted white and the mouldings red.

The doorway is further enclosed by a second order with foliage carved in chalk
or clunch, which has been painted in colours, and beyond this by an elaborately
sculptured outer order, also wrought in chalk. The carvings of this consist of
ten female figures, five on each side, standing under canopies. The uppermost
canopy on each side is surmounted by a demi-angel holding a crown, on which
account Mr. Lethaby thinks the figures may represent the Virtues. They have
unfortunately been wofully mutilated and all have lost their hands and heads.

3 They are only \ inch long and x 3 g- inch in diameter, and have holes in them about \ inch deep.
The plugs are apparently of fir.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXII.

WELLS SCULPTURES.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Eig. 2. The Coronation of our Lady.

Fig. 1. Our Lady and Child, from the west doorway.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXIII.

WELLS IMAGERY-FOUR FEMALE FIGURES FROM THE LOWER TIER.
Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

N.XXYI.

N.XXTX.

X.XXYIII.

N.XXYII.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

One on the south side held a book, and one on the north a globular object. Some
of them have girded gowns, and some mantles, and all were once coloured.
Owing to the nature of the material and the smallness of the figures, the carving
is of a delicacy almost approaching that in ivory.

The niches north and south of the doorway, as the remaining pedestals show,
all contained images, except perhaps the two nearest to it, which are much
encroached upon by its outer arch. The backgrounds of all these niches have
been painted a deep red colour.

Of the twenty-three niches south of the doorway only the two southernmost,
S.XXII and S. XXIII, now contain images ; and the niches north of the doorway
have images only in N.XXI and N.XXI1. Of these N.XXI is different in character
from the rest, and from others on the north tower that belong to the same
series ; a it seems possible, therefore, that it may have been brought down from
one of the now empty niches of the upper tier. The three remaining figures along
the front are unfortunately badly weathered, but they represent men in the prime
of life, bareheaded, and with long wavy hair.. They seem to have held objects
such as books in their hands, sometimes in veils or sudaries. Two figures round
the north corner, N.XXIV and N.XXY, show the same treatment, except that one
has a cap like those worn by the Babbis in the sculpture (N.K) of Christ dis-
puting with the Doctors of the Law.

The very perfect series of images on the west front of the cathedral church
of Exeter, although of later date, has for the central subject of the upper tier that
known as the Coronation of Our Lady. The figures north and south of this,
thirty-three in all, are divided into groups of the twelve Apostles, four Evangelists,
and seventeen Prophets. The corresponding niches at Wells, those of the west
front proper, are forty-six in number, of which forty-four certainly held images.
The few figures that are left are not much to base a working theory upon, but
bearing in mind their association with the sculptured groups above them of the
Old and the New Law, it is inherently probable that the lost Wells images also
were those of the Apostles, the Evangelists, the Major and the Minor Prophets?
and of other folk mentioned in Holy Writ, such as Melchisedech, Abraham,
Moses, Samuel, the Patriarchs, King David, John Baptist, Joseph of Arimathea,
Nicodemus and other Disciples, St. Stephen, etc. and perhaps representations of
the Church and the Synagogue. As forming part of such a series the four
female figures on the north tower (Plate XXIII.) may represent Joanna the wife

a N.XXIV and XXV, XXX, XXXI, XXXII, and XXXIII.

The Imagery and Sculptures

of Chuza, Salome tlie wife of Zebedee, Mary Magdalene with her box of ointment,
and Mary the mother of James and Joses, who were among the witnesses to the
Resurrection. The four noble male figures beyond, two of whom are shown in
Plate XXXVIII., may stand for Silas, Mark, and other companions of St. Paul,
and the six deacons and subdeacons those appointed with St. Stephen, for whom
place was probably found on the front.

It may be objected that the twelve Apostles have a place elsewhere on the
front, and that, although they are of later date, the niches in which they stand
were evidently prepared for such a series.

The answer to this objection is twofold. First, there is no reason against
the figures of the Apostles being repeated, inasmuch as the teaching of the upper
group is so distinct from that of the lower, and at Exeter St. John appears twice,
as Apostle and as Evangelist. Secondly, there is architectural evidence which
suggests that the upper part of the front above the Resurrection tier is different
in design from what was contemplated when the front was begun, 3 and if we may
assume, as seems likely, that the images were inserted while , the front was in
building, a series of Apostles may have been arranged alongside the Coronation
group before the upper series was decided upon and provided for. It is further
by no means certain that the twelve niches below the Majesty were meant to be
filled with the Apostles at all, as they actually were at a later date.

The angel figures in the quatrefoils above the images have suffered much
mutilation, only two or three being perfect. They are the work of several hands,
and consequently exhibit great variety of treatment i Plate XXIV.). But generally
they wear albes or tunicles and mantles or copes : they are also all nimbed and
winged, and issue from beds of clouds. The hands are extended, and usually
hold in a sudary, which passes before, behind, or around the body, a pair of
crowns or mitres, and sometimes a palm branch or book. A few held scrolls
instead. Three of the southern series are carved in a white stone like clunch,
and all are wrought in separate blocks of stone placed within the quatrefoils.

The groups of sculpture filling the larger quatrefoils are also carved in
separate blocks, but those occupying the inner angles often have the subject
worked on two pieces. The blocks themselves are not fixed, but stand of their

a There is architectural evidence inside the church that the three tall lancets lighting the west
end of the nave were originally intended to he subdivided so as to form a double tier, and there are
grounds for believing that until they were altered late in the fourteenth century they so showed
internally. But externally this evidence is entirely wanting, which suggests a change iD the
elevation while the work was in progress.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXIV.

WELLS SCULPTURES-ANGELS FROM THE LOWER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

own weight, with an occasional stone wedge to keep them in place. Their
somewhat smaller size as compared with the openings of the quatrefoils shows
that they have been carved and put in place after the quatrefoils had been built.

As has been described above, the subjects of those to the south of the great
doorway are taken from the' Old Testament or Old Law, and those to the north
from the New Testament or New Law.

The series of sculpture subjects is divided by a large niche above the great
west door, containing a representation of the so-called Coronation of the Virgin,
but which perhaps more properly has reference to the marriage of Christ and his
Bride the Church (Plate XXII. fig.- 2). The niche is trefoiled, with side shafts with
carved capitals, and is surmounted by a curious pointed pediment. Owing to the
intrusion of the apex of the doorway below into the lower part of the niche, its
contents are raised upon a sort of platform. The figures are represented as seated
upon a bench or settle with moulded edge. That of Our Lord, which is on the
sinister side, has unfortunately lost the head. He is clad in an under dress, a tunic,
and a mantle, which is hung from the back of the shoulders and brought round from
the right over the knees and left arm. A fragment of the hair on the shoulder
shows that it was long and wavy. The left hand probably held the orb, but has
been broken away. The right arm was outstretched towards the Blessed Virgin,
but the part below the elbow, which was carved out of the same block as Our
Lady’s figure, has been broken away. The feet, which are bare, rest upon the
body and tail respectively of a lion. The Blessed Virgin is clad in a long robe,
girded with a strap and slit at the throat, a mantle hanging over the shoulders,
and a veil. The head and hands are unfortunately broken away. She has pointed
shoes on her feet, and under the right foot is a small dragon.

Within the niche is a triple belt of plugholes following the curves of the
trefoiled head, and going down to the base of the niche on each side, and in the
spandrel of the pediment above is another series arranged crescent wise, apparently
for some ornamental fixtures, as in the panel with Our Lady and Child lower
down. Beyond the strong traces of the ochre wash which once covered these and
all the images on the front there are now no visible remains of colour.

The groups of the sculptures of the Old Law were probably eighteen in
number, of which fifteen remain. The first is unfortunately lost, but as the series
of the New Law begins with a figure of St. John as typifying the Gospel, that of
the Old Law may well have begun with (a) a figure of Moses as the Lawgiver,
especially as all the subjects following are taken from the Book of Genesis. They
represent ( b ) the Creation of Adam, (c) the Creation of Eve, ( d ) the Prohibition of

b 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

the Tree of Knowledge, (e) The Fall, (/) the Detection of Adam and Eve, (g) [lost,
probably the Expulsion from Paradise], ( h ) Adam delving and Eve spinning, ( i ) the
Sacrifice of Cain, (j) [lost, probably the Sacrifice and Death of Abel], (1c) the
shooting of Cain by Lamech, ( l ) Noah building the Ark, (m) the Ark upon the
waters. The next rhree (n) (o) (p) are doubtful, but (q) is perhaps the Blessing
of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob; (r), if it ever existed, is lost. Plate XXV.
shows the left half of (h), the two halves of (1c), and (l).

The groups of the New Law were originally thirty-one in number. They
begin with (a) a beautiful figure of St. John, who is represented as seated, with
his left hand on his Gfospel, which is perched on the back of an eagle, while he
points with his right to the graven version of the great story unfolded beyond.
It is interesting to notice that the Evangelist is shown as winged, angel-fashion;
perhaps as an impersonation of the Glospel itself. (Plate XXVI.)

The gaps in the New Law groups are more serious than in the Old, as many as
eleven, or nearly one-third, being lost, while some of those that remain are so
broken or weathered as to be difficult of interpretation. Following St. John were
probably ( b ) the Annunciation and (c) the Visitation, but both are gone, and
though part of (d) the Nativity is left, the next five also are missing. They may
have represented (e) the Circumcision, (/) the Presentation in the Temple, (g) the
Adoration of the Three Kings, (h) the Flight into Egypt, and (i) the Massacre of
the Innocents. Of the next subject (j) some fragments remain (perhaps of the
Return from Egypt) which are not easy to make out, but the following one,
(1c) Christ disputing with the Doctors (Plate XXVI.), is well preserved and of great
interest. Two scenes (l and m) in the story of John Baptist come next, and then
two more gaps occur, perhaps of (n) the Baptism of Christ and (o) the Temptation
of Christ. The next two sculptures are fairly perfect : the one (p) represents Our
Lord reading from a scroll to a number of men, perhaps in the Synagogue at
Nazareth ; the other (q) Christ in Simon’s House. The two next groups (r and s)
also belong to our Lord’s ministry, but are somewhat weathered. The next
(t), representing the Transfiguration, is a singularly beautiful composition, as well
as (u) the Entry into Jerusalem, (v) Judas covenanting for the thirty pieces,
and (w) the curious groups of the Last Supper follow. A group (x) that pro-
bably represented the Betrayal is lost, and the four that follow are all more or less
injured ; the last of them (hb) represented Christ bearing his Cross. The
Crucifixion (cc) is lost, but the series fittingly ends with (dd) the Resurrection
and (ee) the Ascension.

The two ranges of niches forming the upper tier are 120 in number, but four
of those on the north tower, which from their position could not easily be seen, do

Archaeolospa.

Vol. IYIX. PI. XXV.

WELLS SCULPTURES-GROUPS OF THE OLD LAW.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

WELLS SCULPTURES-GROUPS OF THE NEW LAW
Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

not seem ever to have held figures, while eight others are now empty, leaving a
present total of 108 that still contain images.

Seeing that so many figures remain, it would at first sight seem quite easy to
suggest the meaning, order, and arrangement of the whole. But the difficulties in
the way are considerable, chiefly on account of the absence of any distinguishing
emblems. In many cases it is impossible owing to the loss of the hands and
forearms from decay to say whether the images held anything or not, but there
is a fair number still perfect or only slightly mutilated which certainly did not
carry anything of special reference.

Mr. Cockerell, with the utmost confidence, divided the whole into a
spiritual side to the south and a temporal side to the north, and gave to the
former the names of the bishops of Sherborne and Wells and to the latter those
of the temporal princes under whom the Church flourished from Egbert, king of
Wessex, to Henry III., with “ the minor and subsidiary celebrities, princes,
princesses, holy men, and foreign alliances, who made up the glory of the Saxon
period.” But though his main contention may not be far from the truth, his
identifications are in many cases obviously wrong, as for instance when he makes
a priest into Bishop Roger of Salisbury, two popes into Aldred of York and
Robert of Canterbury, and two royal abbesses into Osburga and Emma ; he also
wrongly names undoubted figures of SS. Edward the Martyr, Kenelm, Oswald,
Thomas, and Eustace.

One fact that soon becomes apparent from an examination of these upper
figures is the deliberate omission of so many of the saints usually found in or
associated with such series ; and we look in vain for Katharine and Margaret,
Laurence and Giles, Christopher and Martin, and a host of others equally familiar
or popular.

On the other hand very many of the English saints mentioned by Beda and
William of Malmesbury have possible representations among the imagery, and a
few can be identified with certainty. Indeed it would be quite easy to assign
names from William’s Gesta Pontificum to all the prelates, monks, and hermits of
the southern range, and from his Gesta Begum to the kings, queens, princes, and
nobles of the northern series. There are, however, difficulties even here, such as
the finding names for the eight men in armour on the north side and the kings
and nobles other than the maityrs mentioned below; while the undoubted figures
of three popes, as well as one representing St. Eustace, show that the series
cannot be restricted to English saints alone, though the balance of probability is
strongly in its favour as regards the majority of the standing images.

A few figures, owing to their peculiar treatment, fortunately can be identified,

The Imagery and Sculptures

such as N.76, a man standing in a stream and carrying two children, who must
be St Eustace, and X.24, a bishop holding in his hands the severed crown of his
head, who is almost certainly St. Thomas of Canterbury. (Plate XXVII.) The
armed figure (N.22) beside St. Thomas may represent St. George (Plate XLV.),
and the other solitary warrior (X.18) the hermit-knight St. Grodric of Finchale.
Four kings can also be identified as St. Kenelm (N.ll), St. Edward the Martyr
(N 13), St. Oswald (N.17), and St. Ethelbert the Martyr (N.21). (See below.)
The youth with a sword (X.4) from his prominent position almost certainly
represents St. Alban. (Plate XXIX.) The bishop (N.32) facing St. Thomas
may well be St. Elphege, and the priest next him (X.30) St. Amphibalus. The
remaining istanding bishop on the north side (N.-56) is probably St. Erkenwald,
and the lady beside him (N.54) his sister St. Ethelburga of Barking. (Plate
XLIX.) One dignified figure of a queen who held a sceptre (N.6), among the
group in the middle of the front, is distinguished from all the other images by
having white stones set in her crown by way of jewels. (Plate XLIII.) There
is also a man (N.45) pointedly displaying a peculiar form of gaiter or wading boot
which extends up to his thigh. (Plate XLVI.) But neither of these can be
identified with certainty, and so of many others.

The twenty images on the fronts of the buttresses are distinguished from the
rest by being on a somewhat larger scale, and with one exception by being seated
instead of standing. (Plate XXVIII.) The exception to the sitting figures is a
pope (N.42) on the north tower, and he is so obviously out of place, a that it seems
almost certain that he has been moved here from another niche, perhaps N.40,
immediately to the west, to replace a lost sitting figure.

The nineteen seated figures include two popes, seven bishops, a priest, seven
kings, and two princes or nobles.

Certain features peculiar to these images suggest that they form a series
distinct from the standing figures that flank them. Thus two of the kings, S 10
and X.10 (Plate LI.), have each what seems to be a charter or other writing
outspread upon one knee, and may therefore represent special benefactors, like
Edward the Confessor and Richard I. It is also possible that among them are
included the king, pope, bishop, and dean who were living at. the time of the
completion of the front. 15

a When viewed from the ground, the figure does not fill the niche like the rest, and is of the
same smaller scale as the other standing figures.

b N.68 may represent the dean, and N\67 King Henry III. S.33 might represent the bishop,
and S.34 the pope. H.41 may be Richard earl of Cornwall, the king’s brother.

Archaeologia.

Vol. LIX. PI. XXYII.

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

WELLS IMAGERY-SEATED FIGURES ON THE BUTTRESSES
Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeoloeia.

Yol. LIX. PL XXIX.

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

N.2

X.4

ST. ALBAN.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

The principal figures of the standing series are apparently a king (S.l) and
a young queen (N.l) immediately over the Coronation group, whom Mr. Lethaby
(see post) claims to represent Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. (Plate XXXIV.)
They form part of a special group of, originally, sixteen figures, all apparently of
note, if they could but be identified, viz. :

P.8 1

PST-61

[N.4]

[N.2]

[S.2]

[S.4]

[S.6]

[S.8]

Young

Queen.

(Plate

XLIII.)

Queen

with

jewelled

crown.

(Plate

XLIII.)

St. Alban.
(Plate
XXIX.)

Widow

Lady.

(Plate

XXIX.)

Young

Queen.

lost.

Widow

Lady.

(Plate

XXIX.)

lost.

[N.7]

[X.5]

[N.3]

[xN.l]

[S.l]

[S.3]

[S- 5]

[S.7]

King.

St.

Edmund ?
K.M.

St.

Edwin ?
K.M.
(Plate
XXXI.)

Queen op
Sheba.
(Plate
XXXI Y.)

King

Solomon.

(Plate

XXXIV.)

Bishop.

Bishop
holding
a church.
(Plate
XL.)

Bishop.

(Plate

XL.)

To the south of this group all the standing images are bishops, except two
monks, and four hermits who occupy the middle place of the group.

The four hermits may represent Aldwine, Benignus, Edwold, and Guthlac,
all of whom are specially mentioned by William of Malmesbury, and the two
monks Beda, and either John the Scot, or Meldum the founder of Malmesbury
Abbey. The twenty-two bishops ought to include Alcuin, Aldhelm, Anselm,
Athelwold, Austin, Birinus, Chad, Cuthbert, David, Dunstan, Egwin, Felix, John
of Beverley, Osmund, Oswald, Patrick, Paulinus, Swithun, Theodore, Wilfrid, and
Wulstan, all of whom have ever been regarded as saints and confessors deserving
of special honour. The mitred figures holding books may represent bishops who
once were abbots.

Of the standing figures to the north, most of the male figures are kings, but
there is a considerable proportion of crowned and uncrowned ladies, and of princes
or nobles, and warriors ; the only ecclesiastical figures are three bishops and a
priest. On the west front a set of four royal ladies, two of whom are widows
or wear a religious dress, occupies the position corresponding to that of the four
hermits on the south.

One series of twelve images, nine of which are kings, is distinguished by
being represented standing upon diminutive crouching or squirming figures, and
must therefore be martyrs, for which reason it has been possible to identify some
of them.

The Imagery and Sculptures

They are as follows ; and ten of them it will be seen are ranged in pairs :

(X. 3. Bearded king, standing upon a recumbent knight who is plunging a
j dagger into his own throat. — ? St. Edwin , M. (Plate XXXI.)

I N. 5. Bearded king, standing upon a crouching man (mutilated). —
( ? St. Edmund, M.

7X. ll. a Boy-king, standing upon the back of a crowned lady with an
J open book before her face. — St. Kenelm, M. (Pla^e XXX.)

X. 13. Boy-king, holding the fooftof a (broken) cup, standing on a crowned
^ lady with long hair. — St. Edward, M. (Plate XXX.)

N. 15. Bearded king, standing on a broken and decayed figure of a man.
— ? St. Oswyn, M. (Plate XXXI.)

X. 17. Bearded king, holding a shallow dish and standing upon a much
decayed recumbent figure. — St. Oswald, M. (Plate XXXI.)

'X. 21. Bearded king, standing upon the head and knees of a recumbent
figure of a woman with long hair, round cap, and long loose
. . gown. — St. Etheibert, M. (Plate XLIY.)

X. 23. Bearded king, standing on a recumbent (headless) man with his
hands tied together at the wrists. — ? St. Ethelred, M. (Plate
XLIY.)

( X. 29. Beardless youth in round cap, standing on a prostrate figure in a
long gown who is clinging to his left ankle. — ? St. Wistan, M.

| X. 31 . Bearded youth in round cap, standing on a crouching man in loose
l gown and round cap.

X. 12. a Bearded king, standing on a recumbent man in round cap and
naked save for a pair of short drawers.

X. 36. Bearded man in round cap and broad flat ring round neck, who
once held a sword and a long cross or staff, standing on a
squirming man in loose gown. (Plate XXX.)

Besides the nine undoubted martyr-kings, there are six other kings, four of
whom (X.47, 51, 53, 55) do not carry sceptres, and may therefore perhaps repre-
sent those who resigned their kingdoms in order to adopt a religious life, like
Ceadwalla of Wessex, Ethelred of Mercia, and Ceolwulf and Edbert of Berenicia.

These are the work of the same carver.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXX.

X.13.

ST. EDWARD.

X. 11.

ST. KENELM.

X. 36.

WELLS IMAGERY-MARTYRS FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXXI.

WELLS IMAGERY-MARTYR-KINGS FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

The royal princes and nobles among the saints are probably represented by the
images wearing caps, of whom there are five (N.38, 43, 45, 59, 77), in addition to
the three martyrs with caps (X.29, 31, 36) mentioned above. Bach of the five
appears to have held something, now decayed away, in the left hand. Two other
figures (X.77 and N.14) are bareheaded, and the attitude of one of them (N.14)
suggests his having carried a long cross or spear, and a book. A youth with his
hair bound by a fillet and who held a sword (N.4) almost certainly represents
St. Alban. (Plate XXIX.)

Of the warriors in armour N.22 may be St. George and N.18 St. Godric, the
knight-hermit of Finchale, but the others cannot be identified ; N.37 and N.39
form a pair, and N.60, 62, 64, 66 (Plate L.), a group of four.

It has been already suggested that the two standing bishops represent
St. Thomas of Canterbury (N.24) and St. Elphege (N.32) and the priest (N.30)
St. Amphibalus.

The figures of ladies, including two on the southern half of the front, are
twenty in number, twelve of whom are queens. Nine of the queens and two
uncrowned ladies occupy niches on the front; the rest are disposed upon the
north and east sides of the north tower.

The fashions of the headgear, the dresses of some, and the manner in which
the veils are worn, vary in an interesting way. Thus three of the eight uncrowned
ladies have round caps, two have head and chin bands, two have head bands
only, and one is simply veiled. Two of the queens also have head and chin
bands.

The Queen of Sheba (N.l), St. Theopistis (N.78), two queens (N.49 and N.63),
and the companion of one of these (N.65) have short veils hanging down on to
the shoulders. The two queens (N.25 and N.27) with head and chin bands like-
wise have short veils ; they also have long-sleeved dresses and hold books, 3, and
probably represent abbesses. Two uncrowned ladies in the middle group (S.6
and N.2) are perhaps widows (Plate XXIX.) ; they have head and chin ids and
long veils, and each wears beneath her mantle and over her long tight-sleeved
gown a shorter and un girded sleeveless 15 dress. Three other images also have
ungirded gowns : c a very tall lady (N.46) with head band and long veil; another
tall lady (N.54) with a long veil only on her head and about her neck, who also

a In N.27 the left hand, which doubtless held the book, has decayed away.

b It is clearly sleeveless in S.6.

c The image in the lower tier ascribed to St. Mary Magdalene (N.XXVIII.) represents her in
nngirt gown and scapular, with head and chin bands, and a long veil thrown about her neck.

The Imagery and Sculptures

holds a book; a and the figure of St. Theopistis (N.78), who has a round cap over
her short veil. All the other ladies b have girded gowns covering the feet, and long
veils hanging down in front or thrown about the neck. c

It is possible that the ladies with long veils represent such as had adopted a
religious life, and it is interesting to note that almost all the famous English lady
saints specially mentioned by William of Malmesbury had at some period of their
lives “ taken the veil,” and not a few became in time abbesses of the monasteries
they had entered.

From the great series of standing and sitting figures of those in the quick,
we pass to the examination of the figures and groups of figures above them,
representing the "Resurrection of the Dead.

These are contained in a continuous series of trefoiled niches carried all
round the top of the imagery screen.

Of niches that were once filled with these sculptures there are thirty to the
south of the middle line of the front, thirty to the north of the middle line, and
twenty-five more round the north and east sides of the north tower, making a
total of eighty-five. The niches on the fronts of the buttresses are of double
width, as are two above the nave windows and the two on the inner sides of the
nave buttresses.

Most of the niches contain single figures only, but any suggestion of
monotonous symmetry is avoided by the frequent introduction of other figures,
and the attitudes throughout are as varied as possible. The larger niches usually
contain groups formed of several figures. (Plates XXXII., XXXIII.)

The figures are about half life size and are all shown as naked ; most of them
are meant for men, the comparatively few women being distinguished by their
long hair and other differences. A few of the male figures have crowns or mitres
on their heads to denote their rank when living, and here and there one who was
in holy orders may be noticed by his shaven crown. The prominence given to one
mitred figure on the northern buttress of the nave suggests the possibility of its
representing Bishop Joscelin, to whom the building of the front is ascribed.

The attitudes of the figures are very varied. The majority are rising from

a This lady may represent St. Ethelburga of Barking, sister of St. Erkenwald, who is probably
her episcopal companion figure (X.56).

11 Yiz. X.48 and N.74, and the queens S.2, X.6, N.8, N.2 6, K28, N.35, and N.44 ; also X.XXYI,
X.XXYII and X.XXIX of the lower tier.

c The figures with the veil thrown round the neck are N.8, N.28, and 1ST. 44. *

Arcliaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXXII.

WELLS SCULPTURES— RESURRECTION GROUPS.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia.

Vol. LIX. PI. XXXIII.

WELLS SCULPTURES— RESURRECTION GROUPS.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

their tombs, the coped lids of which they carry or thrust aside ; while others are
still asleep, and some appear to be awakening as if from a dream. There are no
indications of a division into the good and the bad, but here and there one may
be noticed whose conscience seems to be smiting him, and who therefore seeks to
hide himself.

There is a peculiarity in the Resurrection groups, which is not to be met with
elsewhere among the imagery of the front, in that each group has been marked
with a number, those south of the middle line by Roman numerals, and those
north of it by Arabic numerals.

Except on the end of the nave there was not any opportunity recently of
examining the groups at close quarters, but the late Mr. J. T. Irvine, who was
clerk of the works under Mr. E. B. Ferrey when the front was under repair thirty
years ago, made careful notes and drawings of them, which he subsequently pub-
lished in the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History
Society, a and they may be seen in some of Mr. Phillips’s photographs. “ Each
group,” writes Mr. Irvine, “no doubt, originally had a number, such number
being invariably cut in the parts representing the earth, out of which the
dead are emerging .... Many of the numbers had become lost, from the
decay of the stone, but a considerable part of them still remain. In neither set
had strict regularity of placing been kept. Some Arabic numerals were repeated,
and, I think, also some Roman ones. One Roman numeral had wandered among
the Arabic ones.” Mr. Irvine’s illustration shows the Arabic numerals on thirty-
three groups, varying from 1 to 79. Upon which he remarks : “Why numbers so
high should be found, when such a number of groups would have been greater than
the number of niches on one-half of front, is singular.”

Concerning these numbers several questions arise, and in particular, why were
they used ? and what is their date ?

The groups on which they occur are probably of about the middle of the
thirteenth century, but Arabic numerals are usually supposed not to have been
introduced into this country before the middle of the fourteenth century, and they
did not come into common use until much later.

Now during the third quarter of the fourteenth century the upper part of the
south tower at Wells was begun to be built by Bishop John Harewell, who died in
1386 ; and in the second quarter of the fifteenth century the north tower was
similarly raised through the bequest of Bishop Nicholas Bubwith, who died in

a Yol. xxxiv. part i. 62.

c 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

1424. Mr. E. S. Prior has suggested to me that to avoid risk of damage to the
sculptures of the Resurrection group during these works they were numbered,
taken down, and afterwards replaced. This would get over the difficulty (1) as
to the numbering of the groups at all, and also (2) of the date of the numbers ;
for such of the numerals as are legible may well be of the dates in question.
Whether Mr. Prior’s suggestion be right or not, it is difficult to offer any
other as reasonable.

There is one further point concerning the Resurrection groups, that no
painting upon them seems to have been noticed. But Mr. Irvine states a that
“ during certain damp states of the atmosphere the tints of the back walls of their
niches seemed to dimly suggest that they had been painted with a black or dark
ground, powdered with flaming worlds and falling stars. It was, however, so
shadowy a trace, that I could not be perfectly certain on the point.”

Most of the groups are now badly weatherworn.

The lowest range of figures in the pediment above the Resurrection groups
consists of nine Angels, representing the Heavenly Hierarchy, with others placed
at right angles to them on the return faces of the flanking buttresses.

The angel on the north buttress has curly hair, and is vested in amice and
albe. The right hand rests upon the hip, as if holding the girdle ; the left is
raised up to the chin as if it once held a trumpet which the angel was sounding,
but no traces of this remain. The wings are somewhat plain, and are treated
differently from those of the adjoining figures. The feet are almost covered by
the albe. No traces of colour are visible.

The angel on the south buttress is vested like the other. He holds a trumpet,
which his puffed-out cheeks show he is sounding. There are traces of red colour
on the albe and wings.

The Angels representing the Heavenly Hierarchy are for the most part in a
woful state of decay, and unless some means be taken to preserve them, such as
a re-application of the coat of tinted limewash that originally covered them,
several must inevitably perish altogether ere long. (Plate XXI.)

Reckoning from the north, they are as follows :

1. Throne. — Covered with feathers, with bare feet. In the hands a
throne. The feathers have been painted a brilliant red.

» Ibid. 62.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

2. Cherub.— In amice and albe and with curly hair. The hands are

uplifted as if they held something, perhaps a crown, before the
breast. The albe, wings, etc. have considerable remains of red
colour over the original ochre wash.

3. Seraph. — Covered with feathers, and with a second pair of wings

crossed before the thighs. He stands in a mass of flames and holds
before his breast a great bowl of fire. The whole figure has been
coloured red.

4. Power. — In cap with upturned brim decorated with roses, a loose tunic

to below the knees, and legs cased in mail. The front is too decayed
to show what the figure held. On the wings and tunic are con-
siderable remains of red colouring.

5. Virtue. — Apparently a woman wrapped in a mantle which covers the

feet, but the figure is badly decayed, especially in front and about
the head. There is much red colouring on the wings.

6. Domination.— A warrior in plate armour, with a helmet on his head, but

wofully decayed. Carter shows him holding a spear (?).

7. Principality. — Covered with feathers, with a second pair of wings

crossed over the lower part of the body, and with bare feet. The
hands and face are decayed away. Carter shows him with out-
spread hands. Traces of red colouring remain on the wings and
feathering.

8. Archangel. — Resembles the Principality, but apparently held a banner,

the top of which is seen in front of the right shoulder.

9. Angel. — With close cap on headland clad in a long gown or tunic

to the feet with a hood round the neck. He apparently holds an
open book. There is much red colouring on the wings and other
parts.

The considerable remains of colouring to be seen on all parts of the angels
shows that the whole of them were coloured a rosy red from head to foot, laid
over a ground wash of yellow ochre.

The representatives of the Heavenly Hierarchy, as has already been pointed
out, are later in style than the great series of figures below them, and they
probably date from the third quarter of the fourteenth century, when the south
tower was raised to its present height.

What filled the niches before them, or whether the niches were filled at all
previously, we cannot now tell.

The Imagery and Sculptures

The great images of the Twelve Apostles that fill the middlemost row of
niches in the western pediment vary from 6 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 9 inches in
height, and stand upon octagonal blocks 2 feet high. Most of them hold books,
and originally each had also a distinguishing emblem, but these have in some
cases decayed away or been so patched with cement as to be unrecognisable.
The image of St. Andrew, who stands seventh in order, is slightly taller than the
rest, a distinction due to his being the “head hallow” or patron saint of the
cathedral church of Wells. (Plate XXI.)

The order of the Apostles is as follows :

1. ? Thomas.

2. ? Matthew. (Carter shows him holding a spear.)

3. Philip, with a pile of five loaves.

4. Paul, with sword and book.

5. James Major, as a palmer with staff and book.

6. John, with chalice.

7. Andrew, with his cross.

8. Peter (keys gone). (Carter shows him holding a key.)

9. Bartholomew, with knife, and his skin over his left arm.

10. James Minor, with club.

11. ? Simon.

12. ? Jude. (Carter shows him with a staff with pear-shaped top.)

Like the rest of the images those of the Apostles are carved in Doulting
stone, and hollowed out at the back for lightness. The figures and their pedestals
are severally worked out of two blocks, but the line of the joint varies, being in
some cases on the top of the pedestal, in others a few inches above.

Mr. E. B. Ferrey, in a paper on the west front communicated to the Somerset-
shire Archaeological Society in 1878, a after describing the images of the Apostles,
writes : “ There are slight traces of colour upon all the figures, and in the pro-
tected parts of the robes the deep maroon tint is found. There are no remains
whatever of gilding, but the bright colours of the stone, affected by the weather,
give almost the brilliancy of gold.” There must, however, be some mistake here,
since the images certainly do not now display any traces of colour, and their

a Proceedings, xix. part i. 81.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

surfaces are too weatherworn to retain any. But Mr. Ferrey’s note would apply
quite well to the row of angels beneath them, and as he says nothing about the
obvious colouring upon these it is probable that he has confounded the two series.
There is of course nothing against the Apostles having been originally tinted to
harmonise with the other coloured images below.

The marked difference in character and treatment between the Apostles and
the images covering the front shows that they are of considerably later date. They
probably belong to the middle of the fifteenth century, when the north tower was
raised to match the south tower.

It would be interesting to know whether the niches in which the Apostles
now stand were previously filled with images.

The central recess of the uppermost division of the pediment (Plate XXI.)
was fittingly filled with a figure of Our Lord in Majesty, seated on a throne, and
judging the quick and dead. Unfortunately the upper half of the figure is lost.
The feet are bare and show the sacred wound prints.

The flanking niches have both lost the figures they contained ; their lowness
and breadth suggest that the missing images were those of censing angels. a
There is nothing to show whether the corner quatrefoils above ever held images
or sculptures.

There can be very little doubt that the whole of the western front of the
church, with the exception of course of the upper parts of the two towers, was
built by Bishop Joscelin. It was apparently not begun until 1220, b and the bishop
himself describes his work as finished in the preamble of a charter of 17th October,

8 Carter’s etching, dated 1786, shows the existing state of things. King’s engraving in the
first edition of Monasticon Anglicanum, i. 186 (1655), shows the central figure as complete and two
standing figures in the side niches ; but it is not to be trusted as accurate.

b For the reasons why the work could not have been begun before 1220, sefe Canon Church’s
paper on “ Jocelin, Bishop of Bath, 1206-1242,” in Archaeologia, li. 281-346. The beginning of the
work in that year can also he fixed by the royal grant of sixty great oaks from the forest of Cheddar
“ for making a certain limekiln for the work of the church of Wells,” a proceeding always indicative
of some important undertaking. The text of the writ is as follows : — Be Madremio data. Bex Petro
de Maulay salutem. Mandamus vobis quod sine dilacione faciatis habere venerabili patri in Christo
domino J. Batthon Bpiscopo sexaginta grossa robora in boscis nostris de Ceddre ad rogum quendam
faciendum ad operacionem ecclesie sue de Weft uhi competencius capi possint ad minus detrimentum
■et vastum foreste nostre. Teste Huherto de Burgo Justiciario nostre apud Oxofi. vij. die Augusti
per eundem. [Close Roll, 4 Henry III. m. 6.]

The Imagery and Sculptures

1242, about a month before his death. 3. It would be interesting to know whether
the whole of the earlier images and sculptures of the front were in place by then.
There is of course no direct evidence on this point, but certain cumulative facts
point suggestively to it. In the first place it may safely be assumed that the
scheme of the imagery was drawn up by whoever designed the front, and Bishop
Joscelin would hardly describe his work aS finished if the niches were still awaiting
the sculptures for which they were built. In the next place it is obvious that
such heavy masses of carving could have been set in place only by the aid of
a substantial scaffolding ; and the images of the upper tier are for the most part
carefully built up with rough masonry at the back, an operation which also needed
scaffolding. Now we may be sure that the builders of the front in their natural
desire to show their new work to the world would strike the scaffolding as soon
as possible, and as it is hardly likely that they would do so knowing that it would
shortly have to be re-erected, the scaffolding used for inserting the images was
probably that first set up.

There is also a strong reason against the imagery and sculptures being later
than Joscelin’ s time.

Immediately after the bishop’s death there arose a great dispute between
the canons of Wells and the monks of Bath as to the mode of electing his
successor, which was followed by an appeal to the Roman Curia. To meet the
enormous expense of this litigation the "Wells Chapter was compelled not only to
spend all its available funds, but to incur debts amounting in all to 2,600 marks. b
To defray part of these the members of the Chapter agreed in November, 1245,
to mortgage their own annual receipts year by year until the debt was paid, and
in November, 1248, an assessment of one-fifth on all prebends for seven years
was ordered to provide for “ the intolerable debts of the church.” c Further, the
fabric fund arising from the fruits accruing from all vacant benefices throughout
the diocese, which had been granted to the Chapter at the beginning of his
episcopate by Bishop Reginald, was given to the extent of two-thirds (saving to
the archdeacon the other one-third), for his lifetime only, to Bishop Roger in
May, 1246, in consideration of the debts of the bishop and bishopric;' 1 This grant
lapsed on Bishop Roger’s death in December, 1247, but was renewed in favour of

a Archapologia, 1. 334.

b Ibid. lii. 95. Canon Church, tells me that he thinks the amount of the debt must have been
much more than 2,600 marks.
c Ibid. lii. 101.

d Ibid. 1. 326, note c .

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

his successor, Bishop William, in 1249, again in relief of the debts of the See, a
and was not restored to the Chapter 15 until 1263.

Whatever money was available after Joscelin’s death seems to have been
spent, not on the images of the front, but on the endowments of chantries at
various altars in the cathedral church. 0

When next there is record of any work upon the church, i.e. in 1286, the
finishing of a nova structura jamdiu incepta was taken in hand, a building which
it is agreed can be no other than the chapter-house. 11 As to the nature of later
works there is no dispute.

We are therefore driven back upon Joscelin’s time for the date of the imagery
and sculptures of his front.

As regards the images and sculptures themselves there do not seem to be any
strong reasons against their being contemporary with the building. The carved
blocks on which many of the figures stand, the trees and leafwork among the
sculptures, and the occasional bunches of foliage associated with the images them-
selves, are all of a date circa 1225-40, and the whole of the details of the costume
and armour are equally in accordance with the period suggested. 6 As regards the
armed figures there is a strong family likeness between them and the monumental
effigy of William Longespee, Earl of Sarum, in the cathedral church of Salisbury.
Earl William died in 1227, and the character of both tomb and effigy point to
their erection soon after his death. The figure moreover is apparently of
Doulting stone, and there are two other effigies at Shepton Mallet, close to Wells,
also of Doulting stone, which are so like it, that all three must have come from
the same workshop ; this was no doubt at Doulting itself, where we have good
grounds for assuming the Wells images were also carved. 1

There seems also to be no inherent difficulty against so large a number of
carvings being done within a short time. On comparing them by means of a
series of photographs no marked differences of date can be detected, but it at once
becomes evident that they are the work of many hands, working together or
immediately after one another. The images of the upper tier in particular can be
divided into at least fifteen groups, and the half-length figures of Angels are

a Archaeolugia, liv. 6. b Ibid. liv. 12.

c Ibid. liv. 13, note a . d Ibid. liv. 16.

e Lord Dillon tells me he sees no difficulty in the armed figures being placed from their armour
as early as 1230-1240.

f There are several cogent reasons against the Wells imagery and sculptures having been
carved on the spot.

The Imagery and Sculptures

certainly tlie work of several hands. 3. More than one carver has also been engaged
upon the sculpture-groups, and upon the fine images of the lower tier. As the
total number of carvings, large and small, including the Resurrection series, was
but 340, the average per sculptor is not unduly great if spread over some twenty
years.

Of the high quality and quiet dignity of the imagery they wrought it is
hardly necessary to write, and there can be nothing but praise for the manner in
which the sculptures and images are adapted to the building of which they form
so prominent and beautiful a feature. As Flaxman justly writes : “ Though this
work is necessarily ill drawn and deficient in principle, and much of the sculpture
is rude and severe, yet in parts there is a beautiful simplicity, an irresistible
sentiment, and sometimes a grace, excelling more modern productions.” 13

There remains finally the great question, what was the general idea that the
builder of the west front of Wells had in his mind when he drew up the scheme
for the imagery and sculptures ?

No better answer can, I think, be given than that suggested by Canon
Church, who shall do it in his own words, which he has kindly written down
for me :

“We may be sure that the statues were not put up for mere decoration,
that some plan and general design was laid out by a master mind on some
principle of illustrating the history of the Bible and the Church, and teaching

a The images in the following groups seem to be the work of one and the same hand :

1. S.8 ; K25, 27, 35, 49, 63, 65, 74, 76, 78.

2. S.2 ; N.2, 4, 6, 8, 26, 28.

3. N.5, 7, 11, 12, 13.

4. N.51, 53, 59, 61.

5. S.l ; N.3, 29, 31, 36, 38.

6. 1ST.15, 17, 21, 23, 55.

7. K43, 45, 47, 75, 77.

8. Kli 37, 39, 60, 62, 64, 66.

9. S.3, 7, 11, 13, and perhaps S.5, 21, 23, 30, 32.

10. S.29, 31.

11. S.15, 16, 18; N.30.

12. S.22, 36, 40; N.32.

13. S.12, 14, 17, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 38.

Mr. E. S. Prior has arrived at much the same result, and he has also pointed out to me what a
number of pairs and sets of four are by the same hand.

b John Flaxman, Lectures on Sculpture (London, 1829), 16.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

by signs and figures, oculis subjecta fidelibus, to the world outside, truths which
were to be taught to each generation of hearers within the sanctuary.

Some help to the meaning and design therein may be suggested by a
consideration of the surroundings of the church at the time when the west front
and its imagery was being raised.

Bishop Joscelin had died in November, 1242. By a Chapter Act of 9th July,
1243, it was ordered that the burial ground round the church now should be laid
out and allotted to different sections of the community : the canons were to be
buried in the cloister ; the vicars in the south ground, east of the Lady Chapel
in claustro ; and the ground before the west front within certain defined
boundaries was to be the burial place of the lay people.

It is probable that Joscelin, the finisher of the church of the thirteenth
century, was the designer of the imagery of the west front, prepared and begun
by him, and that he had arranged that as the west front looked down upon the
public burial ground of his people, it should tell a tale and convey a lesson
appropriate to those who entered in and passed out of the doors of the house
coming to lay their dead in their last resting place under the shadow of the church.

And so gradually there rose up this great £ iconostasis ’ of sculptured
imagery looking down upon £ God’s acre,’ the burial ground of the city, dis-
playing before the eyes of priest and people in their last offices for the dead this
commemoration of the faithful departed, the representation of the Church of the
living God under its twofold aspect as (i) the Church militant here on earth,
(ii) the Church of the Resurrection, the Court of Heaven.

Here in lower tiers are the figures of the divers orders of God’s servants on
earth standing each in their lot : kings and queens, bishops and priests, mailed
warriors and veiled women, saints and martyrs, the known and the unknown,
great and small.

Here again in one long line running from end to end in the middle tier are
the figures of the servants of God rising from their graves bursting the bonds of
death, rising again with their bodies, looking upward and preparing to stand
before the court of heaven. There above in upper tiers are the Angels and the
Twelve Apostles at the feet of the Son of Man, the Lord that sitteth upon the
Throne of Judgment above all, high and lifted up.

This would be a solemn lesson, a fit £ sermon in stones ’ to set before the
minds of the mourners as they lifted up their eyes and saw this wondrous record
of man’s genius and art, mysterious in its origin, surpassing in the dignity, grace,
and simplicity of workmanship the contemporary sculpture of the Christian world.”

d 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

Suggestions as to the Identifications of the Wells Sculptures and Imagery.

By W. R. Lethaby, Esq.

A general comparison of the sculptures at Wells with those at Exeter, both
haying a large number of statues grouped about a central Coronation of the
Virgin, had made me desirous of seeing what indications for the attribution of
definite meaning to the individual statues were to be found at Wells, when the
possibility for doing so should arise. I shall at once set out some of the details
observed, with only the one preliminary remark that the schemes of sculpture
found on foreign cathedrals will prepare us to find saints instead of personages
from English history or other secular sources. 3,

St. Eustace. — On the east face of the north tower, high up (N.76), is a man
bare-headed, fording a stream and carrying two children. (Plate XXVII.) This
must be St. Eustace, who was a most popular saint in the thirteenth century.
“ The legend of St. Eustace,” says M. Male, “ was dear to mediaeval artists. At
Chartres two windows are devoted to his story, and there are others at Le Mans,
Tours, and Auxerre.” At Westminster Abbey, in 1252, Henry III. ordered a
chapel to be made for St. Edward the Confessor’s shrine in which the story of
St. Eustace was to be painted and in the window the story of Solomon and
Marculf. At Canterbury in the north aisle of the quire is a large painting of his
ordeals, and one or two churches in England are dedicated in his honour. The
statue at Wells has been called St. Christopher, but he was figured as aged and
carrying one child, the Christ child. This other is a youthful figure, and the
whole plot of his adventures depended on his carrying his two children over a
river. It is probable that the woman’s figure next to him (N.78) represents his
wife, St. Theopistis. (Plate XXVII.) In the end they were all martyred together. b

St. Thomas of Canterbury. — In the upper row, to the north of the middle line,
is a tall and striking figure of a bishop (N.24), evidently a martyr, for he carries
the crown of his head in his hands. (Plate XXVII.) At Rheims St. Nicaise is

R See Smile Male, L' Art Heligieux du XIlI e siecle en France (Paris, 1898), 1902.
b Amongst the MSS. at the British Museum is a life of Eustace beforetime called Placidus,
who with his wife and sons obtained martyrs’ crowns under Hadrian. Since writing the above I
have seen the story of St. Eustace in a window at Sens where he appears exactly as at W ells in
the subject where he and his children are ejected from the ship in which they were voyaging.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

so represented in one of the large statues of the north-west door, but St. Nicaise
was not well enough known for him to appear at Wells. The statue here might
be the better known St. Denys, but it almost certainly represents St. Thomas of
Canterbury, the most famous martyr-bishop of all, who, moreover, is commemorated
in the Wells Calendar. I was in some doubt, however, as to the applicability of
this manner of representation, until, on consulting Mr. Hope, he showed me a
figure of St. Thomas from early glass in the north rose window at Lincoln
delineated with the same action. It may be remembered that the reputed severed
crown of St. Thomas’s head was separately preserved at Canterbury in the round
chapel of the Holy Trinity, now known as “ Becket’s Crown.”

St. Osivald , K. and M. — Hear St. Thomas, but nearer the middle, we come to a
group of kings, each of whom stands on the prostrate figure of an enemy. Four
of these (N.ll, N.13, N.17, N.21) standing together may be identified. The
evidence for identification is cumulative, and the results will not be doubted when
we see how one leading idea governs all the four statues. N.17 is a king of
mature age who tramples on a figure, of a man apparently. The king carries a
shallow dish, the form of which suggests metal work. (Plate XXXI.) Even while
looking at it the story of the king who broke up a silver dish and distributed its
fragments to the poor suggested itself to me. Beda tells how, when St. Oswald
was sitting at dinner with meat on a silver dish before him, a number of the poor
begged alms, and he gave them both the meat and the dish. He was killed in
battle by Penda, who was doubtless the enemy whom he tramples under foot.

St. Edward, K. and M. — N.ll and N.13, which stood side by side, are both
very youthful figures. (Plate XXX.) Only N.13 bears an emblem; this is the
stem of a cup, the upper part of which has been broken off. In searching for a
young martyred king who held a cup, it was obvious that Edward son of Edgar,
murdered by the queen, his step-mother, while drinking from the cup she had
given him, would satisfy the conditions. This might be considered proved if the
enemy beneath ' his feet were a queen. On going a second time to look I found
that this was the case. The prostrate figure is particularly fine and in good
condition, young, beautiful, and expressing rage.

St. Kenelm, K. and M. — N.ll is, as has been said, a boyish figure. There is
no especial emblem, but he stands over the figure of a woman, who, as Mr. Hope
discovered, bends low over an open book. (Plate XXX.) On turning to William
of Malmesbury’s account of the English royal martyrs I found the story of St.
Kenelm, son of Kenulph, King of Mercia, who, when seven years old, was left
in the charge of his sister Quendrida, who had him murdered. When, at the

The Imagery and Sculptures

time of his funeral, she was reading the Psalter “ backwards for a charm ” her
eyes burst out and stained with blood the words, “ This is the work of them that
defame me to the Lord, who speak evil against my soul.” The bloodstains, says
William of Malmesbury, are still to be seen on the Psalter. This Psalter is
evidently the open book in front of the prostrate figure.

These three kings are all commemorated in the Wells Calendar, as are also
St. Edmund, K. and M., and St. Edward the Confessor.

St. Ethelbert, K. and M. — This statue, shown in Plate XLIY., most pro-
bably represents this King of Essex, who while at the court of King Off a of
Mercia was killed at the instigation of Offa’s wife, Queen Cynethryth. a She
doubtless it is who is sculptured under the feet of the martyr. The cathedral
church of Hereford, William of Malmesbury tells us, was dedicated in his honour.

We have now identified with certainty three English martyr-kings, and a
fourth with a high degree of probability. If statues of these were placed here
we can be assured that St. Edmund, the most famous of the king martyrs, whose
story is carved on the north porch, was also represented by a statue.

There are nine kings in all who stand on prostrate figures and make up a
group, all of whom, we may suppose, represented English martyr kings. Now if
we turn to Father Richard Stanton’s excellent Menology of England and Wales f
we shall find a special list of “ saints belonging to the reigning houses of the various
kingdoms in England,” in which exactly nine are designated king martyrs, namely:
Oswald, 642 ; Edward, 978 ; Kenelm, 821 ; Ethelbert, 793 ; Edmund, 870 ; Edwin of
York, 633 ; Oswyn, successor of Oswald, 651 ; Wistan, 850 ; Eremund, 866. About
the last there is some doubt, but in the annals he is called king and martyr, and
according to some of the legends he was the son of Offa. In 1212 “ the miracles
wrought at his intercession were so numerous, as to cause devotion to him to be
spread far and wide.” At Wimborne, Ethelred, King Alfred’s elder brother, was
at a later time regarded as a martyr, but his name does not appear in Calendars,
and we may name the nine king martyrs as above. 0

a See Florence of Worcester, an. 793.

b (London, 1892), Appendix III. p. 757.

c Tlie shrine of Edward the Confessor made for Henry III. had a group of images of kings set
round it, probably English saints, with one possible exception. They are described as St. Edmund,
four other kings, five golden angels, the Blessed Virgin and Child, a king holding a shrine [? Sebert
or Henry III.], a king holding a cameo with two heads, St. Peter holding a church and trampling
on Hero, and a Majesty. Gr. Gr. Scott, Gleanings from Westminster Abbey (2nd edition, Oxford and
London, 1863), 134, 135. At Exeter Cathedral Church the lower row of figures is mostly of kings.
I had thought that these were the ancestors of the Virgin, but the kings of Wells furnish other

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

Other Statues and Groups. — Only a few other figures possess characteristics
which may prove sufficient for their identification. One of these is a bishop (S.5)
on the south side, who holds what appears to be a church or shrine against his
breast. (Plate XL.) This may possibly be St. Aldhelm. Another is a figure
on the north front (N.45), who lifts his garment so as to expose a curious
covering to his leg. (Plate XLYI.)

It is clear that the statues are in many instances arranged in groups of
typical classes of saints, such as popes, bishops, hermits, abbesses, virgins, kings,
queens, warriors, etc. The popes are distinguished by simple conical tiaras. 8.
One of them (? X.42) is perhaps Calixtus, in whose name an altar in the church was
dedicated. He and other popes are in the Calendar, as are also the four Doctors
of the Church, who we might suppose are likely to have appeared among the
statues, but it is difficult to assign any existing group to them.

The Old and New Laws. — The statues of the ground storey are divided from
those above by the series of Bible subjects of the Old and the Xew Laws, and it
seems highly probable that there may have been a relation between these reliefs
and the statues which were once beneath them.

Most of this lower row of figures have been destroyed, including all those
which occupied the chief position on either hand of the west door. Of the
remaining ones only one (in a row of four women) has an emblem. This is a
cylindrical box, and by first right the figure should be Mary Magdalene. Mr. Hope
has made the suggestion that this very beautiful group of four women may be the
witnesses of the Resurrection. (Plate XXIII.) A neighbouring set is of deacons,
and Mr. Hope sees in these not the well-known deacon martyrs, but those men-
tioned in the Acts. He further suggests that the four prophet-like figures next to
the women may be some of the first teachers of the Gospel. Such a disposition of
figures would agree with the well-known statement of William of Worcester that
the sculptures of the front treated of the Old and New Laws. b If such was the

■evidence, and it becomes more probable that tbe knight to the right of the door with the cross on
his breast is S. Greorge, and the opposite figure, an aged king, the other patron of England, Edward
the Confessor. The king with the harp would be Alfred, who was commemorated at Winchester,
and occasionally is styled saint.

a On the wonderful Ascoli cope lately exhibited at South Kensington there are figured several
pope martyrs, all with the plain conical tiara which we find on the Wells popes.

6 In a Byzantine scheme I find there of the first Deacons, Stephen, Prochorus, and Eleanor ;
also three companions of St. Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy. About the great north doors of
Westminster Abbey Church, begun 1245, there were fine statues of the twelve Apostles. At
Salisbury one of the figures that can certainly be identified is John the Baptist.

The Imagery and Sculptures

scheme of the lower tier of statues, those to the south of the west door would have
been patriarchs (such as are found at Chartres, Senlis, and Kheims) *and prophets.
It would thus follow that the two figures remaining on the extreme right would be
prophets. These are too decayed to carry much evidence, but one of them has a
veil over his head, the usual head-dress of prophets’ statues. The other looks
upwards, perhaps a suggestive attitude. We may, I think, fairly consider that
the statues of the lower tier represented typical personages from the Old
Testament on the south, and from the New Testament on the north. The Old
Law and the New were frequently personified by two figures otherwise called the
Church and the Synagogue, and there may have been such figures here on either
side of the door. Before the date of the statues at Wells we find the Church and
Synagogue represented on the Southrop font, and a similar pair were placed on a
rood-beam at St. Albans. Two magnificent figures which still remain (headless)
right and left of the south door at Lincoln represent, I believe, the same subjects. 3
A fourteenth-century figure of the Synagogue remains on the screen at Howden,
and both the Church and the Synagogue flank the fourteenth-century chapter-room
door at Kochester. An earlier example in painting was removed in the last
century from the boarded “ vault ” of the chapter-house at York.

Passing from these conjectures, I come to the most important statues on the
front, a pair (S.l and N.l) standing on the window piers directly above the
Coronation of the Virgin. (Plate XXXIV.)

King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba . — These fine statues of a king and queen
turn to each other and are evidently to be considered as related figures. They

a Figures of the Church and Synagogue are frequently found abroad ; probably the finest pair is
at Strasburg. As an instance of the treatment of the Old and New Laws in sculpture, I may point to
the noble western portal of St. James of Compostella, dated 1188, of which there is a full-sized cast
at South Kensington. Here there is a magnificent Majesty in the tympanum, and on the left the
figures clustered about the jambs are prophets led by Moses. Street says that the first four figures
are Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, and Jeremiah. On the opposite side, he says, are St. Paul and other New
Testament saints whom he could not identify. They are, however, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James
with his pilgrim’s staff, St. John, etc. On the mid-post of the door below the Majesty is a second
noble seated figure which Street mistakenly identified with St. James, and then criticised the
arrangement on account of the equality of this figure with the triumphant Christ above it. This
statue is evidently Christ on earth, dividing the teachers of the Old Law from those of the New.
The Christ-type of face should be enough to show this, but we have St. James certainly as one of
the group of Apostles, and the symbolism of the entire mid-post completes a positive proof. Below
it is carved into a Jesse Tree ending above with the Virgin, while beneath the feet of Christ is
figured the Trinity, pointing to the double origin. And finally the main capital above the “ Saint’s ”
head, as Street himself says, has carvings of the Temptation, and Angels ministering to Christ.

Archaeologia.

m LIX. PI. XXXIY.

WELLS IMAGERY-THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AND KING SOLOMON,
Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia. Yol. LIX. PI. XXXV.

FROM THE CATHEDRAL CHURCHES OF AMIENS AND CHARTRES.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

have been called King Ine and his Queen, but comparison with other similar pairs
of figures which occupy prominent places in foreign iconographical schemes will
show that they represent King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. M. Georges
Durand, describing a pair at Amiens which strikingly resemble those at Wells, says,
“ The coming of the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia prefigured the journey of the
Magi, and she is at the same time the symbol of the Gentiles attracted to Christ,
that is the Church ; as says St. Augustine, she (the Church) is that Queen who
comes from Ethiopia to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”

As the identification of the two W ells figures depends on their likeness to the
images of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba found abroad, it will be well for me
here to describe some of them. The two statues at Amiens are at the south door
of the great western portal. On the mid-post of the door are the Blessed Virgin
and Child, and in the tympanum the Coronation of the Virgin. On the right jamb
are large statues representing the Annunciation and Visitation, and on the left two
other groups, the Coming of the Kings of the East to Christ, and of the Queen of
the South to Solomon. (Plate XXXV.) Solomon turns toward his visitor with an
expressive and natural gesture. He has “ an inspired look, and seems to reply to
some question ; the index finger of his right hand is supported on his left.” The
queen has removed her crown, for there was no more spirit left in her, and with her
other hand grasps the cord of her mantle, which falls straight from her shoulders
behind ; from her belt hangs a large purse. The attribution of these figures to
Solomon and Saba is absolutely certain, for in the general scheme of the front
there are small explanatory reliefs carved below each large statue. In one of the
two quatrefoil panels beneath Solomon he appears seated on his lion throne, and the
other is of his consecration of the Temple. Under Saba one relief is of Solomon
at table, surrounded by servants, one of whom announces something to him, the
arrival of the queen we may suppose ; and the second panel shows the king and
queen conversing, he pointing upwards and she listening with admiration. The
meaning of the reliefs and the statues is so obvious that it has never, I believe,
been forgotten ; alike in early guide books and the latest monograph no doubt is
expressed of the interpretation.

At Chartres the great triple northern porch of the cathedral church is called
the Virgin’s. At the central door we find Old Testament types on the jambs and
the Coronation of the Virgin in the tympanum above. At the left door is the
Annunciation, etc. and at the right door two of the figures are again Solomon and
Saba. (Plate XXXV.) We should recognise them at once from their resemblance
to the statues at Amiens, but their identity is again made sure by small sculptures

The Imagery and Sculptures

below. The Queen is vested in a long robe girt with a belt, and a mantle hangs
from her shoulders. Under her feet is an Ethiopian carrying a vase filled with
coins, 8, and a long bag of money, “ presents from Ophir,” says M. Emile Male.
Under Solomon is a fool; “without doubt,” says the Abbe Bulteau, “Marculph
the buffoon.” In the story of the visit of the Queen of Sheba, in the Life of
Solomon given in the Golden Legend , it is told how she brought “much riches,
with camels charged with aromatics and gold infinite. She gave then to the king
a hundred and twenty bezants of gold and many aromatics and gems precious.”
And he answered all the questions she asked. In this story we find all the
meaning of the sculptures explained, the prefiguration of the Coming of the
Kings of the East, Saba’s riches, and the asking and answering of questions
which is shown in the attitudes of the two statues. The cupful of coins probably
represents the hundred and twenty bezants of the story.

At Kheims again there is a similar pair of statues, but this time placed in
the most prominent positions of the whole front, on the faces of the two great
buttresses flanking the central portal, over which is a fine relief of the Coronation.
These superb figures, in many respects the finest of the whole series, are obviously
designed with a full knowledge of the Amiens and Chartres examples, which they
so closely resemble in persons, gestures, and dresses. The queen’s mantle here is
even more ample than in the others, and from her belt hangs her purse.

At N6tre Dame, Paris, the jamb statues were destroyed at the Revolution ;
those replaced at the south-west door include Solomon and Saba ; the old ones
were figured by Montfaucon and were described by the Abbe Lebeuf, who
identified those of the south-west door as St. Peter with his keys, and St. Paul ;
David, a king with a viol ; and Solomon, Bathsheba, and Saba. These figures were
older than any we have described, and belonged to the end of the twelfth century.

At Le Mans and Angers are groups of jamb statues even earlier. At the
former, next to the door, are Peter and Paul, two kings, two queens, and four
prophets. One of the kings is young, and certainly Solomon, for on his scroll
may still be read [SAlLOM ..... The other carried a square musical instru-
ment or a book. At Angers there is a young king, and a David who carries a
psaltery, and around whose nimbus are carved words from the first verse of the
50th Psalm. There are also, again, the two queens and some prophets, one of
whom is Moses with the tablets of the Law.

a Sometimes said to be a vase of spices, but I have been able to examine it closely, and the cup
is heaped up with coins.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

These examples lead back to the large number of figures which extend
across the west front of Chartres, where many of the statues are almost replicas
of those at Le Mans and Angers. David, Solomon, St. Paul, and Moses have
been identified. In the earlier examples Solomon and the Queen of Sheba take
their places in a series of typical Biblical characters, while in the later ones they
are singled out from the rest, with symbolic intention.

There is in Italy at least one instance of the occurrence of this pair of statues.
The other day I was looking over the photographic illustrations of Venturi’s
Storia delV Arte Italiana when my attention was arrested by two well-known
figures. Looking to the text it appeared that they were Solomon and Saba from
the jamb of the south door of the Baptistery of Parma, the whole of the sculptures
of which show the influence of French thirteenth-century work.

Now turning back to Wells, I shall at once call the central pair of figures
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. (Plate XXXIV.) The king, to the right,
turns his face sharply over his shoulder towards the queen. He has a distinctive
type like the similar figures at Amiens, Chartres, and Rheims, which perhaps
arose from a wish to have him visibly prefigure Christ. His hands are brought
near together in front; in the left he may have held some object, a scroll, or
model of the Temple, and the right takes a gesture of exposition. The queen is
young and beautiful, with flowing hair, and is vested in a long robe fastened at the
throat with a jewelled brooch, and belted around the waist. From her shoulders
hangs a mantle which, before it was partly broken away, formed quite a back-
ground to the figure. From her belt hangs not only a pouch but an ink-bottle
and pen-case. She turns toward the king, and slightly bending her head seems
to listen. Her left hand held at waist-height an open book or tablet. The right
hand is lost, but the whole gesture suggests that she had taken her pen from its
case and was writing down the marvels which he was expounding to her.

Virtues-. — Around the soffit of the western door-arch, behind the outer
order, is a series of ten small female figures, each standing under a little canopy,
five on either side. At the top of each row against the apex of the arch is the
demi-figure of an angel who holds a crown over the figures beneath. These
figures are very simple and slender, and all are very much alike. They are, so
far as I could discover, without any positive marks for their identification, except
for the crowns above them, and that some carried books. They were painted
with red robes and blue. I at first thought that they might be the ten Wise and
Foolish Virgins, but the two sides are not in any way differentiated, and all
express the utmost serenity. In the foreign examples of this subject, a sharp

e 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

distinction is always made between the two classes. At Rheims there is an
open door above the Wise, and a closed door above the Foolish; at Amiens
beneath the groups are a fruitful tree and a withered tree ; and at Strasburg
one set is led by Wisdom and the other by Folly. The Wells images are, I
believe, Virtues, with especial reference to the virtues of the Virgin, whose
statue occupies the tympanum of the door. Four other instances in England
where Virtues are, or were, grouped about a doorway, may be pointed to in
confirmation of this explanation. The first is the south porch of Malmesbury
abbey church, where there are on each of the jambs four female figures armed
with spears and trampling on prostrate enemies, the Vices. These, I .suppose,
were sculptured c. 1175. a

Around the arch of the chapter-house door at Salisbury are fourteen
Virtues, crowned, armed, and trampling down Vices (date probably c. 1275).
At Exeter three Virtues stand above one of the lesser west doors of the cathedral
church, and there was a fourth, now lost ; while on the jambs of the central
door there are four other little crowned figures, now much abraded, making up,
I think, the series of Virtues to eight (c. 1350). At the porch of the London
Guildhall stood, as is well known, another set of the Virtues, who are named
in a rhyme given by Stow, and drawings of which by John Carter have been
preserved. The fact that the Virtues at Wells are not trampling upon Vices
finds a parallel at Chartres, where, around one of the arches of the Virgin’s
Porch, is a set of Virtues, or rather Spiritual Beatitudes, each of which is only
marked by an emblem. Moreover, in the foreign examples, the Virtues are
associated with the Mother of Christ, 1 ’ while the Wise and Foolish Virgins belong
properly to the Christ-cycle. And finally the crowns held above the Wells figures
prove their identity.

General Scheme . — We have seen enough to indicate that the iconographical
scheme was to bring together the nine orders of Angels described by Mr. Hope
and a great assembly of Saints round about the central action, the Coronation of
the Virgin. It is to be noted that all the statues we have been able to identify,
except those in the lower row, are of martyrs, and all these are on the northern
half of the front. On the southern side, again, there are no figures trampling on
prostrate enemies, and every observer has noticed a predominance of kings on the

a The fonts of Southrop, c. 1190, and Stanton Fitzwarren also have sculptures of the
Virtues ; and Mr. Hope has reminded me of a fine series of seated Virtues trampling on Vices iu
the roundels of the pavement laid down before St. Thomas’s shrine at Canterbury about 1220.

b As to this see Male.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

north side and of bishops to the south. Cockerell called them the temporal and
spiritual sides. Except King Solomon and a seated king, and a queen and another
lady, eyery remaining figure on the south side is of a bishop, monk, or hermit.

In an early Psalter of about 980 in the British Museum, 3, “ the Martyrs
invoked end with the English saints Alban, Oswald, Kenelm, Edmund, and
Ethelbert; the Confessors with Cuthbert, Guthlac, Wilfrid, John of Beverley,
Ceadda, Erkenwald, Swithun, Berinus, Judoc, and Machu.” Here we get just the
same characteristics as on the two halves of the Wells front, and a further
confirmation as to the group of King-Martyrs.

In the great triple south porch of Chartres the central recess is occupied by
Apostles, the left-hand one by Martyrs, and the right-hand one by Confessors ;
and the division into Martyrs and Confessors would perfectly satisfy the data
at Wells. In the Golden Legend the classification of Saints is thus explained:
“It is to be noted that there be four differences of the Saints .... Apostles,
Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins.” b

If we now work with the hypothesis that the images to the north are of
Martyrs and Virgins, and those to the south are of Confessors, the field for
choice is in some cases so limited that it becomes possible to offer a few further
suggestions. Thus the three Bishop-Martyrs may most likely be the best known
of the seven or eight which appear in the Wells Calendar, therefore Alphege,
Archbishop and Martyr, Boniface, and Blase. Of the warriors who are in the
Calendar, George, Theodore, and Maurice should be represented amongst the
Knight-Martyrs. Decuman, a local Martyr, may be looked for on the same side ;
his name is in the Calendar. One of the Kings not accounted for may be
St. Olaf. The single Queen on the side of the Confessor may be Ine’s wife, Ethel-
burga. In that case it is just possible that the missing companion figure S.4 may
have been King Ine himself.

How if we turn to the account of the Death, Assumption, and Coronation of
the Virgin given in the Golden Legend we shall find every point of the sculptured
scheme at Wells suggested by the written story':

At the death of the Virgin all the Apostles were gathered about her, and at
the third hour of the night Christ came with sweet melody, with the Orders of
Angels, the Companies of the Patriarchs, the Assemblies of Martyrs, the Covenants
of Confessors, the Carols of Virgins : and they were set in order and made sweet
a Hart. MS. 2904.

b In the early Life of Edward the Confessor (Rolls Series 3), edited by Mr. Luard, it is said
that lie built the abbey church with chapels for Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins.

The Imagery and Sculptures

song, and the Chanter of Chanters [Solomon] entuned above all others, saying,
Come from Lebanon, my Spouse, come from Lebanon, come, thon shalt be
crowned .... And the Angels were glad, the Archangels enjoyed, the Thrones
sang, the Dominations made melody, the Principates harmonised, the Potestates
harped, Cherubim and Seraphim sang praises, and brought her into the seat of
the Sovereign Majesty. St. Jerome saith : “Who is sufficient to think how the
glorious Queen of the World went up this day, and how the multitude of the
Celestial Legions came with great talent of devotion, and with what songs she

was brought into her seat It is on this day that the Chivalry of Heaven

came hastily and environed her with great light .... and then enjoyed them

the Celestial Company of Jerusalem, and made joy and song This feast is

every year hallowed of us and continued to all other.” .... The Order of the
Apostles honour her, the Multitude of Martyrs beseech her, the Fellowship of
Confessors continue their song to her, the White Company of Virgins make noble
caroling.

We can see from this account, which I have condensed, that it is this ever
renewed Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin which is celebrated by the sculp-
tures of Wells. 8,

The general planning of the Wells front was, I have no doubt, the work of
Bishop Joscelin himself. It is the conclusion of M. Emile Male that in France the
most learned theologian available drew up the didactic schemes for sculptured and
painted imagery, and he has even shown how cer-
tain stained glass windows follow in their design
the doctrinal sermons of Honorius of Autun or
other scholars. The masons whose names Canon
Church has found, Adam Lock and his son Thomas,
from 1224 to 1234, and Master Noreys, from 1235
to 1249, were probably what we should call the
architects of this wonderful storied wall.

The Bible-story reliefs are probably based on
a series of miniatures in an MS. In a window of
the Life of Christ at Laon I find the man laying
down his garment at the Entry into Jerusalem so
much like that of the Wells relief of this subject,
that there is no doubt that they are both examples
of a traditional treatment.

Part of the Entry into Jerusalem.
Erom painted glass at Laon.

Bishop Joscelin instituted a special service of the Virgin at Wells.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

Colouring . — In the detailed examination that has been made of the front
considerable evidence has been found as to its treatment in colour. The whole of
the doorway, with its sculptures and mouldings, was painted and gilt. In the
tier above several of the niches in which the statues stood showed evidence of
having had a full red background. Nearly all the statues retain some part of at
least the ground coat of colouring, especially on their heads, which have been
protected by the niches, and in the folds of the drapery. This ground coat of
ochre had been carried over the whole of the front, sculptures and plain surfaces
alike. Many of the statues showed further traces of colour, red on the lips and
black on the eyes and hair. Solomon’s mantle was of red. The quatrefoils con-
taining the Bible stories had coloured mouldings, and three or four of the subjects
showed some colouring besides the ground tint. The panel of Christ teaching in
the Temple retains some painted pattern-work clearly of the thirteenth century,
and some fragments exhibited before the Society had traces of gold in lines around
a sleeve and on a crown held by an angel. The panel containing the central
group of the Coronation bad some applied decoration, probably gilt stars, fixed to
small plugs, the holes for which still remain. It is to the colouring of the front
that we owe much of its preservation. Wherever there is a smooth surface at
least the ground tint will be found remaining, and where that is gone the stone
has begun to powder awa y. a

The front in its first freshness must have looked like a colossal ivory triptych,
the general surface washed with yellow, and the mouldings and sculptures brightly
coloured, and here and there touched with gold.

Foreign Parallels . — During the last twenty years French and German scholars
have devoted much study to the history of medieval sculpture, some of them
bringing to bear on the subject the minute analysis elaborated in the study of Greek
Art. In a rapid review of the development of schemes of sculpture we may best
start with the noble and well-known west portals of the cathedral church of Chartres.
Besides the tympana and the arches of the three doors, their deep jambs are set
around with tall figures, each one attached to a shaft and finely wrought in a
transitional style between Romanesque and Gothic. The personages represented,
including kings and queens, had been interpreted by reference to French history
until the German Voge argued that they came rather from the Bible. This great
work is probably to be dated a little after the middle of the twelfth century.
Sculptures of the same style, however, were set up at St. Denys c. 1140, and

a Sooner or later the question of preserving the statues from surface decay must be considered.
It would, I believe, be desirable to cover them by degrees with distemper.

The Imagery and Sculptures

there are at least a dozen other doorways which followed the same type. Those
we have mentioned at Angers and Le Mans should be dated about 1160-70.
Some of these doors have only a pair of figures on either hand, generally a king
and queen. The west door at Rochester belongs to this type, and it is a certain
offshoot of the Chartres school, reaching us probably by way of Le Mans or
Angers, with both of which our relations were so intimate in the latter half of
the twelfth century. The sculptures of Rochester are, I believe, the first
examples of this sort of statuary in England, and the king and queen, instead of
being named Henry I. and Matilda, should be called Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba. (Plate XXXYI.) The resemblance of the sculptured tympanum, with
its central Majesty surrounded by the four symbolic Beasts, together with the
twelve Apostles on the lintel below, to French prototypes cannot be questioned.
At Bourges, on the north porch, there is also a pair of figures which is very
similar, and at St. Denys is a still more beautiful pair removed from Corbeil.
(Plate XXXVII.)

A steady progression may be traced in France from the Chartres facade to
the facades of Amiens and Rheims. A fine door at Provins closely resembles the
Angers door, but is probably a little later, say 1190. The west door at Senlis is
still more developed, and here, probably for the first time, the Coronation of the
Virgin appears in the tympanum as the central group. The great triple west
porch of Laon was probably in hand before the end of the twelfth century. Its
sculptures were destroyed at the Revolution, but the three tympana are magnificent,
and set the tradition for a generation. That of the centre door bears the Coronation
of the Virgin.

The portals of Xotre Dame, Paris, other than the south-west door before
referred to, appear to have been begun some time between 1208 and 1220. All
the original parts that remain show great nobility of style, while the figures stood
in niches instead of being attached to columns. Amiens west front was begun
in 1220, and the most recent authority shows that the statues are involved with
the early part of the construction, and that they cannot be put later than c. 1225.
Exclusive of the sculptures on the middle posts of the three doors, there are fifty-
two heroic-sized statues in one row across the front, filling the slanting sides of
the porches, and the faces of the buttress masses between them.

The date of the wonderful assemblage of sculptures at the north and south
transepts of Chartres is not certainly known. The general scheme follows Laon,
but the porches themselves seem to have been executed later than the doors which
they shelter. These doors and their sculptures are, I believe, earlier than the
Amiens sculptures. Amiens followed Paris ; and Rheims, which is certainly later

Archaeologia.

Vol. LIX. PI. XXXYI.

KING SOLOMON AND THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, FROM ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL CHURCH.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia. Yol. LIX. PI. XXXVII.

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AND KING SOLOMON, FROM THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF CORBEIL;

NOW AT SAINT-DENYS.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1901.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

than any yet spoken of, followed the type of Amiens; whereas Chartres has
affinities with Laon. At Rheims, which is the culmination of the whole series, the
Coronation of the Virgin is the central group on the pediment above the central
porch. The fagade of Rheims was probably begun about 1250.

The Wells scheme was, I believe, made with the knowledge of both the
Amiens and Chartres sculptures, and there are several points in which it
resembles Rheims. It is, however, a new departure in that it spreads one great
sculptural drama over the entire front. The beauty of it stands beyond tho
need of praise.

The Society is much indebted to M. le Comte de Lasteyrie for the loan of the
block of the Corbeil figures a in Plate XXXVII., and to Mr. Arthur Gardner for
the loan of the negatives of Plates XX. and XXXV. ; also to Mr. T. W. Phillips
of Wells for lending the negatives of Plates XXI., XXII., XXIII , XXIV.,
XXVII., XXXII., XXXIII., XXXVIII., XLIV., XLVL, and L., and of the
figures S.6, and N.15, 17, 22, 36, 51, 54, 56, 57, 75, 77, and N.a; also to Messrs.
Dawkes and Partridge of Wells for lending the negatives of Plates XXV.,
XXXIV., XXXIX.— XLIII., and XL VII., of the figures X.2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13,
25, 26, 53, 55, and 74, and of the sculptures N.k, N.l.

The two figures on Plate XXX VI. are from T. and G. Hollis’s Monumental
Fffigies of Great Britain.

a From M. de Lasteyrie’s Btudes sur la Sculpture Franqaise au Moyen Age (Paris, 1902), forming
vol. viii. of “Monuments et memoires publies par l’Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres
(Fondation Eugene Piot).”

The Imagery and Sculptures

APPENDIX.

I. — Images of the Lower Tier.

S.l.-S.XXI . — All these images are lost.

From the small size of Niche I. it is doubtful if it ever had an image. The remain-
ing niches have pedestals for the lost images.

S.XXII. — A much decayed male figure, bareheaded and with long wavy hair, in tunic,
supertunic, and mantle. The hands apparently held something in front of the body,
but owing to the bad condition of the figure it is difficult to say what.

S.XXIII. — Man bareheaded and with long wavy hair and slight beard, with head turned
towards right, in girded tunic and mantle. One side of the mantle hangs over the left
shoulder, but the other side is brought round under the right arm and upheld by the
left hand. The right hand seems to have held a book (?). The lower part of this image
is badly decayed.

N.I.-N.XX . — All these images are lost.

From the small size of Niche I. it is doubtful if it ever held an image ; the
remainder of the niches have pedestals for the lost figures, and in many traces of the
iron holdfasts are left.

N.XXI. —Man with long wavy hair, in long gown to feet, girt with a strap, and mantle over
the shoulders and gathered over each forearm. The right hand has perished but
seems to have been laid on the breast. In the left hand is a closed book.

The upper part of this fine figure is badly decayed and the features are almost
gone.

N.XXII. — Man with long hair and short beard, in long girded gown and mantle. The left
hand seems to have held some object, such as a book, but the front of the figure is badly
decayed.

N.XXIII. — Lost.

N.XXIV — Man with wavy hair and beard and pointed cap, in long girded gown and mantle.
The surface of the upper half of the body is badly decayed, but the hands seem to have
held some such object as a book in a sudary which hangs down from the right arm.

Archaeologia.

Vol. LIX. PI. XXXVIII.

WELLS IMAGERY-TWO PREACHERS FROM THE LOWER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

N.XXXI.

N.XXX.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

N.XXV. — Man with short beard and long wavy hair, in girded gown, and a mantle hanging
over the right shoulder and forearm. The left hand is raised and covered by a sudary,
which passes over to and hangs down from the right hand. This was also covered, and
is uplifted to hold a book (?), now nearly decayed away.

N.XXVI. — Young lady with long hair covered by a veil, long gown, and circular cloak.
The veil hangs down in front, and is thrown over the right arm. The cloak envelopes
the figure, but is gathered over both arms, which were raised in front of the body.
Whatever was held in the hands has decayed away with them. This image is
5 feet 9 inches high and only 8 inches thick. (Plate XXIII.)

N.XXVII. — Lady with long hair in girded gown and mantle. On her head is a cap or
head-band, over the rear half of which is a long veil hanging down in front below the
waist. The hands were uplifted as if holding something, but have been broken off a
little below the elbow. The face has lately been damaged. (Plate XXIII.)

N.XXVIII. — St. Mary Magdalene, Tall lady in tight-sleeved under-dress, wrapped over
the feet, loose sleeveless gown to the ankles, scapular (?) and mantle. She also wears
a chin-band, head-band, and ample veil, which is thrown round the neck. The
mantle is so hung as to leave the right arm free, but covers the left shoulder and is
thrown over the left arm. The end of the scapular is held by the left hand, which also-
supports a plain cylindrical object, held steady by the right hand. A fine and dignified
figure 6 feet 1^ inch high. (Plate XXIII.)

N.XXIX. — Lady in long girded gown, mantle, and veil, which covers the head and hangs
down to the waist. The head is encircled by a simple cord or band over the veil. The
left hand hangs down and grasps the pendent end of the girdle-strap and front fold of
the dress. The right hand was upraised and held some object, now broken away, before
the breast. Only 9 inches thick. (Plate XXIII.)

N.XXX. — Man with short beard and long wavy hair, in long robe to feet, slightly slit at
neck, and showing there an underdress. He also wears a long veil or mantle placed
over the head and hanging down over the shoulders, and grasped in front by the two
hands, which also hold a closed book towards the left side. (Plate XXXVIII.)

N.XXXI. — Man with short beard and long wavy hair, in long loose robe to feet, and mantle
covering both shoulders. The right hand is also covered by the mantle, which is
gathered up by and hangs down from the upraised left arm. The left hand is
broken off. (Plate XXXVIII.)

N.XXXII. — Man with slight beard and long wavy hair, in long robe to feet and shorter
loose robe over it, and mantle hanging over left shoulder and gathered over the left-
arm. The hands probably held a book, but are broken away.

The part of this figure which shows the lower robe and the feet is worked out of a
second piece of stone.

The Imagery and Sculptures

IN.XXXIII. — Man with slight heard, and long wavy hair bound by a fillet, in long robe to
feet, girt by strap, and mantle over shoulders. Right arm broken off at elbow. In
the left hand, which is covered with the mantle, he holds an open book/ which was
also held by the right hand.

IN’. XXXIV. — Deacon b in cassock, amice, albe, and tunicle. The right hand was upraised,
but is broken away. The left hand is also upraised, and holds a half-opened book
with a register or marker with long pendent ends.

IN.XXXV. — Deacon in cassock, amice, albe, and tunicle. The right arm hangs down at
the side. The left arm, which was partly raised, is broken away at the elbow.

XT. XXXVI. — Deacon in cassock, amice, albe girded with a rope girdle, and with fanon
hanging from left arm. Over the left shoulder and crossing the body to the right side,
where it passes under the girdle, is a folded or rolled-up chasuble. In the hands is an
open book, held as if to be read from, with a projecting register at top.

N.XXXVII. — Lost. The pedestal and holes for the iron fastenings remain.

IN.XXXVIII. — Deacon in amice, albe with tight sleeves girded with rope girdle, stole over
left shoulder crossing over to right side and passing under girdle, and with the fanon
hung from the girdle on the left side. The right hand is broken off. In the left hand
is a closed book.

IN.XXXIX. — Deacon in long surplice to feet, with stole over left shoulder crossing the body
to the right side, and fanon hanging from left arm. The right hand is broken away.
The left hand holds down the front of the head opening of the surplice, so showing an
under vestment, the tight sleeve of which is also visible on the left forearm.

N.XL. and N.XLI.— There do not seem at any time to have been images in these two
niches.

II. — Angels issuing peom Clouds.

S.A.-S.C . — These three figures are lost.

S.D. — Angel with jewelled nimbus, in girded tunic with jewelled collar, and mantle hanging
over left shoulder and left arm. The left hand is upraised and holds a scroll which
crosses the body diagonally to the other hand. The wings are perfect, but the face has
decayed away. (Plate XXIV.)

This figure is carved in clunch or hard chalk.

a There are no traces of letters on the book.

b For illustrations and full descriptions of this and the four other Deacons, see Archaeologia,
iv. 84 — 86 and Plates IX. — XI. The figure N.XXXVI. seems to be the only medieval representation
of the folded chasuble, which was worn at mass instead of the tunicle during Advent and from
Septuagesima to Easter.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

S.E. — Angel, now headless, clad in tunic and mantle. The hands held up a sudary, and in
the right a crown ; the left hand is broken away, and the right wing is broken.

Carved in white stone.

S.F.— Angel in loose tunic or ungirded alhe. On each of the outstretched hands, which are
covered by a sudary passed behind the body, is a crown of four fleurons.

This figure is complete except as to the left wing and the fleurons of the crown,
and bears abundant traces of the yellow ochre wash. (Plate XXIV.)

S.G. — Angel in girded tunic, with curious wing-like appendages before the shoulders. The
nimbus is jewelled. The left hand is covered by a sudary hanging over the left shoulder
and brought round under the right arm, and holds a crown. The right hand seems to
have held a palm branch. The right wing is mutilated. (Plate XXIV.)

Carved in chalk or other white stone.

S.H. — Angel in loose albes and amice. A sudary hangs over the left shoulder and passes
over the left hand, which holds a mitre. The right hand was upraised but is injured.

This is a beautiful figure, and shows abundant traces of the yellow ochre wash.

S.I. — Angel in ungirt tunic, with a sudary hanging over both shoulders and passing over the
outstretched hands. In the left hand is a crown, but another which was also held by
the right hand is broken away. (Plate XXIV.)

S. J. — Angel in girded albe and cope with jewelled morse. The left hand upholds a closed
book, the right one side of the cope. The top of the right wing is broken away.

A somewhat curious little figure.

S.K .-Lost.

X.A.-N.D. —These four angels are missing.

N.E. — Angel in albe and cope, with the latter gathered like a sudary over the hands, but
both hands are broken away.

This figure has much of the strong ochre colouring.

X.F. — Angel (head lost) in ungirded albe. The outstretched hands, now gone, held a
sudary, which passes round the body, and is crossed in front of it. Both wings are
broken.

N.G. — Only a fragment of this figure is left.

X.H. — Angel in tunic and mantle. The latter has the opening on the right shoulder, where
it is laced across, and is thrown over the arms so as to leave the hands free. The left
hand holds a labelled mitre. The right hand is gone, otherwise the figure is quite
perfect.

N.I. — Angel in loose tunic, with veil hanging over the left shoulder and passing across the
body and under the right arm. The hands are broken away, and the figure is much
decayed.

46 The Imagery and Sculptures

N.J. — Angel with veil over the left shoulder, holding in the left hand a veiled crown and in
the right a closed book.

This figure is much decayed.

N.K.— Angel in girded albe, with a sudary round the neck, crossed in front of the body, and
then passing over the hands. In the right hand is a mitre ; the left is gone.

This figure is somewhat decayed.

N.L. — Angel with outstretched hands, holding a mitre (broken) in the right and a crown
(also broken) in tbe left.

This figure is much decayed, and both wings are broken.

N.M. — Angel in ungirded albe, with a crown (broken) in the left hand ; the right is gone.

N.N. — Angel in girded albe, with veil over left shoulder and right hand. The hands are
both broken away.

N.O. — Angel in loose albe, holding up a sudary from hand to hand. In the right is a
crown ; the left is broken away. Both wings are perfect.

N.P. — Angel in girded albe and cope with morse. In the outstretched left hand is a mitre ;
the right is broken away.

N.Q. — Angel in ungirded albe, with outstretched hands now broken away. Part of a scroll
which they held remains. The right wing is lost.

N.P. — Angel in ungirded albe and mantle, holding up a sudary from hand to hand. In the
left hand is a mitre ; the right hand is broken.

N.S. — Angel in girded albe, with loose robe cast about the shoulders. The wings are
broken and likewise the uplifted hands.

N.T . — No figure.

III. — Sculpture G-rotjps oe the Lower Tier.

S.a. — Lost. The missing figure may have been Moses with the tables of the Law.

S.b. — The Creation of Adam.

Adam is shown on the right, naked and with long wavy hair, reclining on the
lumpy ground out of which he has been made. Before him on the left, also on the
ground, stands the Creator, as a tall nimbed figure with long wavy hair, short beard, and
bare feet, clad in a long tunic girded with a cord, and a mantle hanging from the
shoulders. The arms, which were stretched out towards Adam, are broken away.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

S.c. — The Creation op Eye.

On the right is Adam, naked, and reclining on the ground in a deep sleep, with his
head resting on his hand. On the left stands the Creator (vested as in S.b. but now
headless). The arms are broken away, but seem to have been extended towards Eve
and lifting her out of Adam’s side. The figure of Eve has also lost the arms.

S.d. — T he Prohibition op the Tree op Knowledge.

Adam and Eve as two shrinking figures are being led of God into the Garden of Eden.
God, a stately nimbed figure in girded tunic and mantle, has his left arm round the
newly created beings, and his right hand resting upon a tree behind him. Another tree
grows behind the figure of Eve.

S.e. — The Fall.

Adam, who is eating the apple, and Eve standing together, holding leaves over

themselves to cover their shame. On either side is a tree, and behind the figures is a third

and larger one, at the top of which may be seen the Serpent biting off another apple

S.f. — The Detection op Adam and Eve.

On the left, Adam with Eve on his right, seated on the ground and holding leaves
over themselves to cover their nakedness. On Adam’s left is part of a tree, behind
which (on the right) stands the figure of God, with his right hand on the tree and
a closed book in the left. All three figures are headless, and the group is otherwise
much mutilated. The figures seem to have been sheltered by two trees, one on
either side.

S.g. — Only a fragment of this sculpture is left, showing part of the trunk of a large tree on
the right. It probably represented The Expulsion from Paradise.

S.h. — Ad am delving and Eve spinning.

On two stones :

(a) On right : Adam, bareheaded and barefooted, stripped to the waist and wearing
short breeches rolled up to the knee, and there tied by points. He is shown vigorously
thrusting his spade into the ground, which is hummocky and with remains of trees. From
beneath his spade wells out a stream of water. His arms and spade-handle, and the
trees, are broken away.

(b) On left : Eve seated on the ground, with unbound hair, and clad in a long shift
with short sleeves. Between her knees is her distaff, fixed in the ground, and
surmounted by a mass of wool or flax, which she holds with her left hand. The right
hand is extended behind her as if twisting the thread, and from her fingers hangs her
spindle. (Plate XXV.)

Except for a small part of the distaff, the figure of Eve spinning is singularly
perfect. Behind the distaff are traces of the red background of the niche.

The Imagery and Sculptures

5.1. — ? The Sacrifice of Cain.

To left, a boy (?) sitting behind two sheaves of corn lying on the ground. In the
middle a man walking towards the left and carrying a sheaf of corn. To right a man
reaping corn.

This sculpture is somewhat weathered.

S.j. — Lost. [Probably The Sacrifice and Death of Abel.]

S.k. — The shooting of Cain by Lamech. (Plate XXY.)

On two stones :

(a) On left: a determined looking man in round cap, girded tunic, and mantle
fastened upon the right shoulder, shooting an arrow from a bow. The bow and both
hands are broken away.

(b) On right : a bareheaded and apparently dying man in girded tunic sitting on
the ground amidst a number of bushes. With his right hand he supports himself from
falling; his left is outspread upon his breast. Above his head is the figure of a small
boy.

5.1. — Noah building the Ark. (Plate XXV.)

In front, Noah, in hood tied under chin and short girded tunic to knees, working
with an axe at a piece of wood supported on two four-legged stools. On the ground
lies a differently shaped axe and a hammer. In background an unfinished clinker-
built boat and two trees. Slightly mutilated.

S.m. — The Ark upon the waters.

The Ark is represented as a boat with upturned ends, floating on the waters, with
a four-sided truncated conical structure arising from it. The latter is divided into
three stages with wide openings; out of the two lowest a pig, a goat, horses, and
sheep, etc. thrust their heads, and from the topmost peer men and birds. The
animals in the lowest stage are feeding from cribs. On the extreme left is a dead man
floating on the water, with a raven preying upon him.

The front of the Ark, which seems to have contained a group of some kind, is much
weathered.

S.n. — ? G-od’s Covenant with Noah.

In front, a stately standing figure, now headless and otherwise mutilated, in
girded tunic and mantle. The ground behind on the right is rugged. Some object or
figure on the left has decayed nearly away.

S.o. — A much weathered group, with a man, apparently in mantle and hood, standing close
beside and facing a woman (?) in long girded gown.

S.p. — A man in round cap and a tunic lying asleep on the ground with his head on his hand
and a mantle cast over his legs. In front and below is a boy (?) with a cap tied on his
head sitting on the ground, and behind the sleeping man is another in girded tunic who
is bending over him. The head and arms of this last figure are broken away.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

S.q. — ? The Blessing oe Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob.

A bearded man being held up on a bed in a sitting posture by a man who stands
behind. Two other people, now much broken, stood behind the foot of the bed, and
another was seated at its head.

Much weather worn and mutilated.

S.r. — No Sculpture.

N.a. — St. John Evangelist, nimbed and winged, 3 and clad in a long tunic and mantle, sitting
on a bench, with his head turned in the direction of his outstretched right arm. The
left hand rested on the book of his Gospel, which is supported on the outspread wings
of an eagle. Both hands are broken away. The feet are bare and rest on leafwork.
The eagle is perched upon a curled leaf growing out of one end of the bench. There
are traces of red colouring on the mantle. (Plate XXYI.)

N.b.— Lost. [Probably The Annunciation.]

A base block remains.

N.c — Lost. [Probably The Visitation.]

N.d — The Nativity.

A badly mutilated group, showing Our Lady in bed suckling the newly born Child,
and the ox and the ass behind. On the right is a seated but headless figure, and
another headless figure stands behind the bedhead.

N.e. — Lost. [Probably The Circumcision.];

N.f. — Lost. [Probably The Presentation in the Temple.]

N.g. — Lost. [Probably The Adoration op the Magi.]

N.h. — Lost. [Probably The Flight into Egypt.]

N.i. — Lost. [Probably The Massacre oe the Innocents.]

N.j. — ? The Return from Egypt.

Headless figure of a man in gown and mantle in front of a mass of rock.

In front, on a loose piece, a seated figure of a man, headless and much injured.

N.k. — Christ disputing with the Doctors. (Plate XXVI.)

On two stones :

Left : Christ as a small child seated on a tall desk with clustered pillar with
carved capital. Behind and partly shielding him with her mantle stands the tall
(headless) figure of Our Lady, and behind her also stands Joseph, as an old man,
bearded and wearing a round cap. On the left is a man in girded tunic, mantle, and
round cap, sitting on a cushioned seat.

Right : Two Doctors sitting on a bench in front of a wall with coved cornice. The
one to left wears a cloak clasped by a round brooch on the left shoulder, and a pointed

3 The left wing is lost.

The Imagery and Sculptures

cap, and holds in his right hand an open book. The second has one foot resting on the
knee of the other leg and wears a round cap. Above the cornice are three other men :
one is headless, the second wears a pointed cap, the third was bareheaded. On the
right, seated on the ground, is another Doctor in tunic, short mantle, and drawn poke
hood. The wall behind the two figures is masoned in red and the cove decorated with
black scroll work, all on the ochre ground.

N.l. — The Calling op John Baptist. (Plate XXYI.)

On the right John Baptist in camel skins sitting on the ground in the desert.
Behind him is the stump of a tree, and on left a small tree and stump of another. The
saint's head is broken away. In front is an angel appearing to him out of a large cloud.

N.m. — T he Preaching op John Baptist.

On two stones :

Left : John Baptist standing, with a man behind him.

Right: A group of eight men listening to John's preaching. (Plate XXXIX.)

N.n. — Lost. [Probably The Baptism of Christ.]

N.o — Lost. [Probably The Temptation op Christ.]

N.p. — Christ in the Synagogue at Nazareth. (Plate XXXIX.)

Christ sitting on the right and expounding the Law from a scroll (broken) which
he holds across his knees. Before him a seated group of ten men listening to his
words.

N.q. — C hrist in Simon’s House.

Four men sitting on a bench behind a table, on one end of which is an ewer covered
with a cloth. The first three figures (from left) are headless, and all have lost their
arms. The third was Christ, who is shown as of larger stature than the others. In
front, but much decayed, is a kneeling figure of Mary Magdalene.

N.r. — A group of twelve or thirteen persons, for the most part seated, but much decayed in
front.

N.s. — Christ seated on the right and in front of a group of nine other persons. The fore
part is somewhat decayed.

N.t. — The Transfiguration. (Plate XXXIX.)

A beautiful group, with Christ nimbed and standing between Moses and Elias
(both headless), beyond each of whom is a tree (that on right broken). In front on the
ground are three prostrate figures of Peter, James, and John.

N.u. — The Entry into Jerusalem.

On two stones :

Left : Headless and broken figure of Christ riding to the right upon an ass (also
broken). Behind walks a small man with uplifted hands. Behind the ass’s head
stands a tall (headless) figure with a garment in his hand.

Right : A castellated trefoiled archway with attached gatehouse. Within the arch

— ; j

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XXXIX.

WELLS SCULPTURES-GROUPS OF THE NEW LAW.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London. 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

stands a man holding a branch, and in front of him another (headless) casting down his
garment. On top of the arch are two other figures, and on the adjoining wall is a man
with a garment and another with a branch (both mutilated). Three other folk look out
of the windows.

N.v. — Judas covenanting foe the Thiety Pieces. (Plate XXXIX.)

An interesting group of figures. On the right (headless) is Judas, and behind
him is a small devil (headless) holding his mantle. Two other figures were apparently
chief priests : one has a horned mitre, the other is headless. The hands of all three
figures are broken away. On the left, under an arch, is a small figure (mutilated)
taking the thirty pieces out of a chest.

N.w. — The Last Suppee.

On two stones :

Right : Our Lord and four apostles seated behind a table. Our Lord is clad in a
girded tunic and mantle and has long flowing hair. His right hand rests on the table,
but the left upon St. John, who is on his left, and reclining against and in front of him.
He is shown as a youthful man in girded tunic and mantle, with his right elbow on the
table and supporting his head on his right hand. The other figures are now headless.
One is behind St. John. The next has his left hand on the table, and with his right is
holding up something (now broken) before his breast. The last or end figure has the
left hand stretched out on the table, and holds a short roll in the right. On the table
are loaves, dishes, etc. The table itself is bracketed out from the bench behind, and
has no front legs. The feet of four of the figures are seen underneath. On a pedestal
below are a large flask and a basket full of meats.

Left : Another table, behind which are seated three Apostles. The end one on
extreme left has long hair and a short beard, and wears a girded tunic and mantle ; his
right hand rests on the table, but the left is gone. The next man is headless, but also
had long hair ; he is shown with his hands on the table breaking a loaf in two. The
third figure is also headless ; he is clad in girded tunic and mantle, and seems to have
had his hands upraised towards his mouth, but they are now broken away, On the
table, which is covered with a cloth falling in folds, are dishes, loaves, etc. and beneath
it are seen the bare feet of the Apostles.

Carved out of the same block there is at the right end a figure with his back to the
others, kneeling on his right knee upon the floor level. He has a girded tunic and
mantle, long hair, and short beard. His left hand rests on the left knee, and the right
is upraised and held over the mouth. From his position between the two tables and his
bending the knee before Our Lord, this figure probably represents Judas receiving the
sop.

N.x. — Lost. [Probably The Beteayal.]

H.y. — Cheist befoee the Sanhedeim

A group of many figures, of which the most prominent is a tall man iu robe and

9 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

mantle -with long flowing hair seated on a throne or seat in the midst. The arms are
broken away and also the left foot. On the right hand of this figure and, rather behind
him is a tall bearded man wearing a tall cap, and beyond him, but in front, two figures
(headless) in long tunics and mantles. Behind the central figure is a group of four
men, and on his left another group with a man in a pointed cap, preceded by three or
four men and pushing in front of him Our Lord, who is shown naked to the waist and
with bare legs. On the pedestal of the group is a small seated figure, much injured.

N.z. — C hrist before Pilate.

On two stones :

Right : Two men, one in gown and long sleeved tunic, standing up (upper part
broken away), the other, in gown and mantle sitting on a seat with his hands joined in
his lap (head gone).

Left : Christ, as a gigantic figure with long hair and short beard, with shirt or
tunic rolled round the waist so as to leave the body bare, and with bare legs, being led
away by a man in girded tunic, who holds him by the waist-band. The figure of Our
Lord has lost the left arm and leg, but has the right upraised. The smaller figure has
lost the head and righ" arm.

N.aa. — Small group of three men in girt tunics and tight hose, walking to left. The last
man has his right hand on the shoulder of the man in front of him, but all have lost
their heads and are otherwise much damaged.

N.bb. — C hrist bearing his Cross.

Christ as a gigantic figure, naked save short breeches and shirt rolled round waist,
being led along by a man in tight hose and short girded tunic with a staff (?) in his
right hand, while with his left he holds Our Lord’s waist-band. The figure of Christ
has lost the left leg and the arms, as well as the Cross, and the leader has lost his head.
Behind Our Lord are two other figures, both in short tunics and tight hose ; the one
holds Our Lord by the waist-band, but has lost the head and left arm and right leg ;
the other has his back to the spectator and has a coif on his head.

Carved on a block shaped to fit the angle.

N.cc. — Lost. [Probably The Crucifixion.]

N.dd. — The Resurrection.

Christ shown partly draped and stepping out of the sepulchre, in which also stand
two angels with outspread wings, one on either side. All three figures are now headless.
Below are the figures of three sleeping soldiers clad in mail, but the one to the left has
lost his head.

N.ee. — The Ascension.

A group of standing figures, all now headless. The Apostles have bare feet, but a
prominent figure in front, with the feet covered by a long gown, probably represents
Our Lady. At least nine figures are visible.

Yol. LIX. PI. XL.

WELLS IMAGERY-THREE BISHOPS FROM THE UPPER TIER.

.Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

IY. — Images oe the Upper Tier.

5.1. — King Solomon. King with long wavy hair and short curly heard, with head turned

to right. His crown has a cresting of fleurons and a cap inside. He wears a long
under-tunic with tight sleeves, a long sleeveless over-tunks, slit up the front to show the
under-dress, and a mantle, which hangs over the left shoulder and is gathered over the
left aim. The right hand is broken, but seems to have had the fingers resting upon
those of the open left hand. (Plate XXXIY.)

5.2. — Tall and youthful Queen in long gown girt with a strap, a mantle hanging from the

shoulders, and long veil reaching nearly to the knees. Over the veil is a narrow crown
of fleurons. The long wavy hair is seen on either side of the face. The gown is slit at
the throat and secured by a large round jewelled brooch. The right hand is gone, but
held the strap of the mantle. The left arm is broken away at the elbow. Much ochre
wash remains on the head and under the arms.

5.3. — Bishop with short curly beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right hand is
partly gone,, but was raised in blessing before the breast ; the left held a wooden staff in
two pieces fixed, one below, the other above, into a stone socket held in the fingers.

5.4. — Missing.

A block with carved leafwork for the figure to stand on is left.

5.5. — Bishop, bearded, in mitre and mass vestments. The hands seem to have held before

the breast the model of a church with tall steeple. (Plate XL.)

5.6. — Yery tall Lady (8 feet high) in long sleeveless gown reaching to the ankles, and under-

dress with tight sleeves which covers the feet. She has also an ample mantle, which is
brought round the right side and held by the left hand ; while the right hand holds the
broad strap that secures it across the breast. The head is enveloped in 4 a chin-band
confining the hair, which is seen only behind the ears, and a head-band, and is covered
as to the hinder half by a veil which hangs down on each side in front of the body.
This singularly beautiful figure, which probably represents a widow lady, is quite perfect
except for part of the right hand. Much of the ochre wash is left on the head and under
the arms. (Plate XXIX.)

5.7. — Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right hand is gloved and

raised in blessing in front of the shoulder. The left hand is also raised to the same
height, and may have held a staff. Both hands have decayed partly away. (Plate XL.)

5.8. — Missing.

A square standing block with carved leafage is left.

The Imagery and Sculptures

5.9. — Seated Bishop in mitre and mass vestments with the right hand raised in blessing.

The head and hands and a good deal of this figure date from a modern restoration
to repair the injuries sustained by its fall.

5.10. — Seated King with crown of fleurons, in long tunic girded by a broad strap, and a
mantle. The left hand is raised and holds the mantle band. The right hand holds upon
the knee an open charter or writing. A very fine and perfect figure.

5.11. — Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The hands are both raised
as in S.7, but have nearly decayed away.

5.12. — Monk with slight beatd, in long gown with ample sleeves, and hood upon head.
The hands were upraised as if holding something, but are decayed away. (Plate XLI.)

5.13. — Bishop with short beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The hands were both
upraised as in S.7, but are now decayed away.

5.14. — Bishop (or mitred Abbot) with short beard, in mitre and mass vestments, holding a
book in his left hand. The right hand is gone ; it probably held a staff. (Plate XLI.)

5.15. — Bishop (or mitred Abbot) with short beard, in mitre and mass vestments. In the
left hand was a book, and the right held a staff, but both are almost decayed away.

5.16. — Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The hands are decayed
away, but apparently the right was raised in blessing and the left held a staff.

5.17. — Bishop (or mitred Abbot) in mitre and mass vestments. Tbe right hand is gone, but
apparently held a staff. The left hand holds the weathered remains of a book (?).

5.18. — Bishop (or mitred Abbot) with short beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right
hand, now gone, probably held a staff ; in the left is a closed book.

5.19. — Seated Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right hand is
partly gone, but is raised in blessing. The left hand is upraised before the breast and
once grasped a staff.

5.20. — Seated Bishop in mitre and mass vestments, badly decayed. The right hand was
probably raised in blessing ; the left has perished. The head is turned partly round to
the right.

5.21. — Bishop with moustache and beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right hand,
now partly gone, is raised in blessing. The left was lowered and held a staff.

5.22. — Abbot (?) in amice, albe, chasuble, and mitre, holding a book in his left hand. The
right hand is gone, but evidently held a staff. The upper half of the mitre is lost.

This figure is formed of two stones. (Plate XLII.)

S.2-3. — Bishop with moustache and beard, in mitre and mass vestments. Both hands are
gone, but the right was raised in blessing and the left held a staff.

S.24. — Monk with short beard, in long gown with wide sleeves and hood round neck and
upon head. The right hand holds a closed book. The left hand also held something
but is broken away at the wrist. (Plate XLII.)

Arohaeologia. Vol. LIX. PI. XLI.

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LTX. PI. XI JI

S.22

S.24

S.26

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

5.25. — Hermit with long beard, in gown to feet, short tunic to knees, and hood upon the
head. Both hands are broken away.

5.26. — Hermit with long beard, in long gown to feet, scapular coming down to a point in
front, and hood on head. Round the waist is a strap or belt from which hangs on the
left side a pear-shaped collecting-box (?) . The hands seem to have held something in
front of the body, but are decayed away. (Plate XLII.)

5.27. — Hermit with long beard, in long gown to feet and somewhat shorter over-tunic, and
hood upon head. The hands are much decayed, but seem to be holding the remains of
an open book.

5.28. — Hermit with straggling beard, in long girded gown, ample mantle closed across the
breast, and hood on head. From the left side of the girdle hangs a triangular pouch.
The hands held something before the body, but are broken away. (Plate XLI.)

5.29. — Bishop (or mitred Abbot) with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right
hand is raised in blessing. In the left hand is a closed book. (Plate XLIII.)

5.30. — Bishop with short beard, in mitre and mass vestments. Both hands were upraised,
the right as if blessing, the left as if it held a staff, but both have weathered away.

5.31. — Bishop (or mitred Abbot) in mitre and mass vestments. The left hand holds a
closed book. The right is gone at the wrist but seems to have been raised in blessing
as in the fellow figure (S.29). (Plate XL.)

5.32. — Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The right hand has partly
perished, but is raised in blessing. The left hand, which has gone, seems to have held
a staff. The top of the mitre is broken off.

5.33. — Seated Bishop in mitre and mass vestments.

5.34. — Seated Pope with short beard, in plain conical tiara and mass vestments. The hands
were upraised, but both have decayed away, and the upper part of the figure is likewise
in bad condition. The fanon which hangs from the left arm is curiously disposed over
the left knee.

5.35. — Missing.

5. 36. —Bishop (or mitred Abbot) in mitre and mass vestments. In the left hand is a closed
book. The right, which has decayed aw'ay, seems to have been raised in blessing.

5.37. — Much decayed and mutilated figure of a Bishop.

5.38. — Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The left hand seems to have
held a staff, and the right to have been raised in blessing, but both hands are gone, also
the top of the mitre, and the figure generally is much decayed.

5. 39. — Much decayed and mutilated figure of a Bishop.

5.40. — Bishop in mitre and mass vestments, but in bad condition from decay. The left hand
perhaps held a staff, and the right may have been raised in blessing.

The Imagery and Sculptures

5.41. — Seated Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments, but much cracked and
badly weathered. Both arms were uplifted, but are broken off at the elbow.

5.42. — Seated Bishop in mitre and mass vestments, but so badly weathered that few details
can be made out.

N.I. — Queen oe Sheba. Young Queen in girded gown showing under-dress at neck, slit
at the throat and there held by a lozenge-shaped jewelled brooch. On the head is
a much broken crown of fleurons, worn over the veil, from under which appears the
long wavy hair. The right arm is broken away at the elbow. The hand may have
helped to hold an open book in the left hand, part of which is left. Hanging from the
girdle on the left side on a large triangular pouch, a penner, and a globular inkpot.
This is almost the only figure in which the breasts are slightly indicated. (Plate XXXIY.)

N.2. — Widow Lady in long under-dress falling in folds about the feet, shorter over-dress, and
mantle. She has a chin band and crimped head band, over which is a veil hanging
down nearly to the waist. Her long hair is seen under the veil at the neck. The
right hand held one end of the veil, but is broken away. The left hand held the mantle
strap, but is partly decayed. (Plate XXIX.)

N.3. — ? St. Edwin, K.M. Bearded King with wavy hair and (broken) crown of fleurons, in
long sleeveless tunic and sleeved under-tunic, and mantle hanging down from the right
shoulder and over the right arm. The left hand is upraised, as if holding a tall cross or
lance, but is broken away at the wrist. In the right hand is the socket for a sceptre.

The feet rest on the shoulders and head of a recumbent knight in mail and long
surcoat, with his right hand on his knee, and with his left plunging a dagger into his
own throat, probably Eumer, who attempted to assassinate the King. (Plate XXXI.)

N.4. — St. Alban. Young Man with incipient beard, and short wavy hair bound by a fillet,
in sleeved under-garment, sleeveless tunic, and mantle hanging behind. The hands
are gloved. The left grasps the empty scabbard of his sword, which is hung on the
left side from a belt crossing the body. The right hand held the drawn sword, but is
broken away. (Plate XXIX.)

N.5. — ? St. Edmund, K.M. King with slight beard and crown of fleurons, in tunic, and
sleeveless over-tunic with large armholes, and mantle over shoulders. The left arm,
which was raised before the breast, is gone at the elbow. The right arm was lowered,
but is also decayed away below the elbow.

The feet rest on the head and back of a crouching man, but his head and the front
half are split off and lost.

N.6. — Tall Queen in girded gown with round brooch at the neck. The hair is long and
wavy, covered by a veil hanging down nearly to the knees. Over the veil is a mantle
hanging from the shoulders. The crown was of fleurons, with small inserted pieces of
chalk between to represent jewels. The fleurons are much broken, and the stones quite
polishedby the feet of birds The right hand hangs down, and holds the socket for a sceptre.
The left hand was raised in front of the breast, but is broken away. (Plate XLIII.)

Archaeologia. Yol. LIX. PI. XLIII.

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

N.7. — King with slight beard and (broken) crown of fleurons, in belted tunic, slit at
throat and there confined by a small round brooch, and mantle. The left hand is much
decayed, but held the mantle strap. The right arm hangs down, but is gone at the
wrist.

N.8. — Tall young Queen with wavy hair, crown of fleurons, and veil thrown round the neck.
She has a long girded gown and a mantle, the right side of which was upheld by the
right hand. The left hand is decayed, but grasped the mantle strap. (Plate XLIII.)

N.9. — Seated Man with beard and round cap, in belted tunic and mantle, which is brought
round over the knees. The right hand is upraised on breast ; the left was extended
with upraised palm, and below the forearm there are remains of an attachment of some-
thing, but it is difficult to suggest what it may have been. (Plate XXVIII.)

N.10. — Seated King with large nose, short beard, and crown of fleurons, in girded tunic,
and mantle thrown round the body and over the knees. The neck opening of the tunic
is held by a large round jewelled brooch. The arms are akimbo, and the right hand
rests on the right knee. The left hand holds over the left knee an open charter. The
right foot is upraised and rests upon a footstool. (Plate LI.)

N.ll. — St. Kenelm, K.M. Young and beardless King with crown of fleurons, in belted
tunic and mantle hanging from shoulders. The fingers of the left hand are hooked over
the mantle strap. The right hand grasps the hilt of an upraised sword, now gone.

Under the feet is a crouching figure of a woman in crown and chin band, with her
plaited hair hanging down her back, and an open book before her face. (Plate XXX.)

N.12. — King with short beard and tall crown of fleurons, in sleeved tunic, sleeveless over-
tunic, and mantle. The right hand which was lowered probably held a sword or
sceptre, but is decayed away. The left hand held the mantle band.

The feet rest on the recumbent figure of a man in round cap, and naked save for a
pair of short drawers.

N.13 — St. Edwaed, K.M. Young and beardless King with broad face and crown of
fleurons, in girded tunic and mantle ; the latter hangs down in front from the left
shoulder. The right hand holds the socket of a sceptre ; the left the foot of a cup.

Under the feet is a crouching figure of a queen with long hair. (Plate XXX.)

N.14. — Young and beardless Man, bareheaded, with short wavy hair, in long girded tunic
and mantle ; the latter covers the upper part of the bq^.y and is fastened before the
breast by two round buttons. . The right hand, which was upraised as if holding a long
staff or cross, is broken away at the wrist. In the left hand are the remains of a clasped
book (?).

N.15. — ? St. Oswyn. King with short curly beard and curly hair and crown of fleurons, in
tunic and mantle. The latter is brought round from the left side and flung over the
right shoulder and held by the left hand. The right hand was lowered as if holding a
sword or sceptre, but is gone.

Under the feet is a headless and decayed recumbent figure of a man. (Plate XXXI.)

The Imagery and Sculptures

N . 1 6 . — Missing .

N.17. — St. Oswald, K.M. King with slight beard and ornate crown, in long loose tunic and
mantle. The mantle covers the figure and has a laced opening on the right shoulder.
The right arm, which was upraised as if holding a sword or sceptre, is gone at the
elbow. The left arm has the mantle gathered over it, and in the hand is a shallow dish.

Under the feet is a greatly decayed recumbent figure. (Plate XXXI.)

N.18. — Warrior in complete mail and short loose snrcoat slit up in front. The camail covers
the mouth and has the flap fastened up on the left side of the head. Hanging by a strap
over the right shoulder is a large plain shield nearly covering the left arm. The right
arm hangs down, but the hand has perished. Crossing the body is the sword belt, but
the sword is not shown ; it may have been partly behind, and held by the left hand
under the shield.

N.19. — Seated King with slight beard and crown of fleurons, in belted tunic and mantle,
which is brought round over the knees. The right hand was upraised, but is broken
off at the wrist. The left hand rests on the knee. The face is in a state of decay.

N.20. — Seated King, badly decayed and fractured.

N.21. — St. Ethelbert, K.M. King with slight beard and ornate crown, in belted tunic and
mantle. The left half of the mantle hangs down in front of the left shoulder ; the right
half is brought across the body and flung over the left arm. Both hands are gone ; the
right may have held a sceptre.

Under the feet is a recumbent figure of a woman with long hair and a round cap
and long loose gown. The King has his feet upon her head and knees. (Plate XLIY.)

The King’s head shows plainly the ochre ground tint, and traces of red on
the lips.

N.22. — ? St. George, M. Warrior in mail and short sleeveless surcoat, slit up in front, with
flat topped helmet upon the head. The right hand, which grasped a spear or pennon,
is broken away at the wrist ; but a hole for the butt of the shaft may be seen by the
right foot. The left hand holds a plain pointed shield, which covers the arm and has a
strap for suspension round the neck. From under the shield also hangs the sword,
from a belt encircling the body. (Plate XLY.)

N.23. — King with beard, wavy hair, and high open crown, in loose tunic and mantle. The
latter is brought round on the left and thrown over the arm, and on the other side is
grasped by the lowered right hand.

Under the feet is a recumbent figure of a man (now headless) with his hands tied
together at the wrists. (Plate XLIY.)

The head of this image shows plainly the ochre coating. The lips have also traces
of red colouring and there are remains of black on the eyebrows and beard.

N.24. — St. Thomas op Canterbury. — Bishop in mass vestments, but no tunicle, with the t<~>p
of the head cut clean off above the eyebrows and held in front of the breast with both
hands. (Plate XXVII.).

Archaeologia.

Vol. LIX. PI. XLIV.

WELLS IMAGERY-MARTYR-KINGS FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XLY.

X.25 N.22 K26

? ST. GEORGE.

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

N.25. — Queen- Abbess in long loose gown with surplice sleeves, mantle, chin band, veil, and
high open crown. The long hair shows under the veil. The left hand has the fingers
hooked over the mantle band; the right holds a closed book. (Plate XLY.)

N.26. — Tall young Queen in girded gown with round brooch at the neck, and mantle. The
hair is long and wavy, but covered by the veil, both ends of which hang down to below
the waist. Over the veil is a crown of fleurons. The fingers of the right hand seem to
have rested upon the palm of the left, but the latter is broken away. (Plate XLY.)

N.27. — Queen- Abbess with high crown, in loose gown with ample sleeves, mantle, chin band,
and veil. The tight sleeves of an under-dress show at the forearm. Both hands are
broken away. The right seems to have held the mantle band. The left was raised
as if carrying something, probably a book.

N.28. — Tall Queen with long wavy hair covered by a veil over which is a crown of fleurons
(mutilated) ; the ends of the veil are thrown round the neck. She wears a long girded
gown and mantle. The hands have decayed away ; the right may have held a sceptre ;
the left was raised up to the breast.

The whole figure is badly weathered.

N.29. — Beardless young Man with wavy hair and round cap, in belted tunic and mantle.
In the right hand he held a sceptre or staff. The left hand plays with the pendent end
of the belt.

He stands upon a prostrate figure in a long gown, who is clinging to his left ankle.

N.30. — ? St. Amphibalus, M. Priest with short beard, in mass vestments. The hands have
gone. The left was raised and perhaps held something in front of the body ; the right
was held out as if it also carried some object.

N.31. — Youth with slight beard, wavy hair, and round cap, in loose tunic and mantle. Both
hands are decayed away. The left seems to have held something against the side, the
right to have grasped the mantle. The face is partly decayed away.

He stands upon a crouching figure of a man in loose gown and round cap.

N.32. — ? St. Elphege, M. — Bishop with slight beard, in mitre and mass vestments. The
hands seem to have been outstretched as if carrying something, but are decayed away.

He does not appear to have held a crosier.

N.33. — Seated King in tunic and mantle, which is brought across the body and thrown over
the left arm. The right arm has the sleeve rolled up to the elbow, leaving the forearm
bare, and showing a band round the wrist ; the right hand rests on the knee. The left
hand is raised to hold the mantle band.

The head is modern, and the figure altogether is a poor one.

N.34. — Seated Bishop, bearded, and in mass vestments. The hands are gone, and there was
not a crosier.

This figure is badly decayed, especially as to the face.

h 2

The Imagery and Sculptures

N.35. — Young Queen in girded gown and mantle. She wears a high crown over her veil,
which shows her long wavy hair beneath, and hangs down to her girdle. The left arm
is gone, but the hand evidently held the mantle band. The right arm is lowered, but
the hand, which may have held a sceptre, is gone.

N.36. — Man in round cap with short beard and short curly hair. He wears a long girded
gown, and over it a mantle fastened on the left shoulder and so slewed round as to hang
with a point over the feet. Encircling the neck is a broad flat ring resting on the
shoulders. The left hand is upraised and once held a staff or long cross. In the
right is the hilt of a sword.

Under the feet is the squirming figure of a man in a long loose gown. (Plate XXX.)

X.37. — Warrior in complete mail, and sleeveless surcoat to the knees. The camail covers
the mouth and is fastened up behind the left ear with a strap which runs through the
mail over the face. The right arm was upraised as if holding a spear or banner, but is
gone at the shoulder. The left arm hangs down, but the hand, which seems to have
held the sheathed sword, is gone. Part of the sword belt shows on the right side, but
not on the left.

N.38. —Man with wavy hair and round cap in girded gown and mantle. The hands were
raised as if they held something, but both arms are broken off at the elbow.

This is the figure which fell in 1902. The fragments of it have been pieced together
and the figure replaced in its niche, without any unwise attempt to restore it.

N. 39. — Warrior in complete mail, with loose surcoat to knee and slit up front. The head is
covered by a flat topped helmet. The right arm, which was lowered, has decayed away
at the elbow. The left arm is covered by a large and plain pointed shield from under
which hangs the sword by a belt encircling the body.

The figure is badly decayed.

N.40. — Missing.

N.41. — Seated Man with beard and round cap, in belted tunic and mantle hanging behind
and brought round over the left knee. The right leg is bent up and placed upon the
left knee and there held by the left hand. In the right hand was a staff or sceptre.

N. 42. — Standing figure of a Pope in plain conical tiara and mass vestments. In the left
hand is a book. The right hand is lowered and it is doubtful whether it held anything.

N.43. — Man with slight beard and round cap, in long belted tunic, and mantle, which hangs
over the shoulders and is gathered over the right arm. The mantle has no cord or band
to keep it in place. The right hand is laid open on the breast; the left, which seems to
have held something just below the waist, is broken off. The head of this figure is
turned partly round towards the left. (Plate XL VI.)

N.44. — Young Queen, with long wavy hair showing beneath her veil. She is clad in a long
girded gown and a mantle, winch is gathered up and hangs over the left arm. The left
end of the veil hangs down and is gathered over the right wrist; the other end is

N.47

X.45

K.43

Archaeologia. Vol. LIX. PI. XLVI.

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.
Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XLV1I.

WELLS IMAGERY-GROUP OF THREE FEMALE FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

X.46

X.44

N.48

Yol. LIX. PI. XLVIII.

Archaeologia.

N.55

N.53

N.51

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.
Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

thrown across the neck and over the left shoulder. In the left hand is a closed book ;
the right is held open on the breast.

This image is formed of two stones. (Plate XLYII.)

N.45. — Man with short beard, wavy hair, and broad fillet (or cap) round head, in belted
tunic and mantle. The tunic is slit up the front and held open with the right hand to
show the right leg. This is covered to the foot, as is the other leg, by a lap-over
legging or boot, but the knee is covered by a flap with embattled lower edge, apparently
suspended by cords from the waist. The left arm is raised and a projecting piece on the
breast shows that the hand held up something, but the hand is broken off at the wrist.
(Plate XLYI.)

N.46. — Unusually tall Lady in loose gown and mantle. She has long wavy hair confined by
a head band, over which is the veil. This hangs down on each side nearly to the knees.
The fingers of the left hand hold the band of the mantle; the right hangs down and
grasps one end of the veil. (Plate XLYII.)

N.47. — King with short beard and high crown, in belted tunic and mantle. The mantle
bangs over the shoulders, and the right side of it is brought Across the body and there
held by the left hand. The right hand is broken, but was apparently held up, palm
outwards, in front of the breast. (Plate XLYI.)

N.48. — Young Lady in girded gown, open at the neck and there fastened by a large round
brooch, and mantle, the left side of which is brought round and held up by both hands
in front. Upon the head is a veil secured by a band or fillet, and hanging down below
the waist. The right hand is partly decayed away. (Plate XLYII.)

N.49. — Queen in girded gown, with round brooch at neck, mantle, and veil, which hangs
down from under her crown, showing her long wavy hair beneath. The crown is much
damaged. The right hand was raised breast high, but is broken off at the wrist. The
left hand hangs down and grasps the border of the mantle.

N.50. — Missing.

N.51. — King with short beard, curly hair, and crown of fleurons, in a girded tunic and
mantle. The mantle is gathered up, and hangs over the right arm. The right hand
holds the- pendent end of the belt ; the left grasps the mantle strap. (Plate XL VIII.)

N.52. — Missing.

N. 53. — King with short beard and wavy hair, and a crown of fleurons, in long girded tunic,
slit at the neck, and mantle. The right hand grasps the strap of the mantle; the left
the belt of the tunic. (Plate XLVIII.)

X.54. — ? St. Ethelburga or Barking. Unusually tall Lady in long ungirt robe with tight
sleeves, mantle, and veil, beneath which is seen the long wavy hair. The robe has an
opening at the neck, clasped by a large round brooch. The veil has the right side
hanging before the body down to just below the waist, but the left side is brought across
the bosom and thrown carelessly over the right shoulder. The mantle hangs straight

The Imagery and Sculptures

down from the right shoulder, hat covers the left shoulder and is gathered over the left
hand. On this rests a closed book, which is held in place by the right hand.

A singularly beautiful and perfect figure, of great dignity. (Plate XLIX.)

N.55. — Beardless King with short wavy hair, in long girded tunic and large mantle, and a
crown of large and small fleurons. Both hands grasp the mantle, which is brought
round from the right and flung over the left shoulder. (Plate XL VIII.)

N.56. — ? St. Erkenwald. Bishop in mitre and mass vestments, holding in his left hand a
(mutilated) book. The right arm is upraised as if it held a crosier, but the hand has
been broken away at the wrist. (Plate XLIX.)

N.57. — Seated King with short curly hair and beard, and a crown of eight fleurons alter-
nately large and small, with his arms akimbo and his hands resting on his knees. He
is clad in a girded tunic with tight sleeves, with an under-dress showing at the feet, and
a mantle which hangs from the shoulders and is brought round over the knees. (Plate
XXVIII.)

N.58. — Seated Pope in mass vestments, with plain conical tiara. The right hand, which
was raised before the breast, is gone, and the left, which was lowered towards the left
knee, is also lost.

N.59. — Man with short beard and short curly hair, wearing a round cap, a long girded tunic
with tight sleeves over a longer under-dress, and mantle. The right hand is broken
away, but held the strap of the mantle. The left arm is bent but broken off short just
above the wrist ; in the broken end an iron stump is leaded in.

N.60. — Beardless Warrior in padded cap with ear flaps fastened under the chin, with blobs
below the ears. The arms are covered with some loosish material, without any trace of
mail, and the legs and feet with the like stuff, but fitting closely. The body is covered
by a long sleeveless surcoat reaching below the knees, and slit up the front. On the
ankles are seen the straps of the spurs. The left hand rests on the hilt of the sword,
which is hung from a narrow belt passing round the body, and covered by a small
round target with broad central boss. The right arm is uplifted as if holding a banner
or spear, but is broken off just above the wrist. An iron stump shows an attempt at
repair. (Plate L.)

N.61. — King, now headless, in long girded tunic and mantle; the mantle hangs over the
shoulders and is gathered up to hang over each arm. On the feet are boots. The left
hand grasps the strap of the mantle; the right holds the socket of a sceptre.

N.62. — Warrior with short beard, in cap with rolled brim and ear-flaps tied under chin. The
arms and legs are shown covered with some tightly fitting material, perhaps leather,
without any trace of mail, and the body is covered by a thick and stiff sleeveless surcoat,
slit iip the front and reaching to the knees. Upon the left arm is a long pointed shield,
under which appears the sword, slung from a narrow belt round the waist. The right
arm is upraised as if it held a spear, but the hand is broken away at the wrist. On the
ankles are spurs. (Plate L.)

Arehaeologia.

Yol. LIX. PI. XLIX.

X.56

? ST EKKENWALD.

N.54

? ST. ETHELBUKGA of Barking.

N.74

WELLS IMAGERY-FIGURES FROM THE UPPER TIER.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Archaeologia.

Yol. L1X. PI. L.

WELLS IMAGERY-WARRIORS FROM THE UPPER TIER.

N.66

W.64

K62

N.60

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church.

N 63. — Queen in long girded gown, and mantle hanging from shoulders, with flowing hair
covered by a veil, over which is a crown of fleurons. The slight opening of the gown
at the neck is secured by a small round brooch. The right hand hangs down and once
held a sceptre. The left hand holds the pendent end of the girdle strap.

N.64. — Warrior in complete mail, with stiff sleeveless surcoat with stiffened lower edge.
The camail covers the mouth, and over it is drawn a cap, with a broad rolled brim round
the head. Bound the neck is a deep collar, laced across in front. Both cap and collar
were evidently actually of leather. On the ankles are spurs. The knight holds in front
of him a large shield, now quite plain. (Plate L.)

N.65. — Lady with long flowing hair, in long girded gown, and mantle held by a strap or
band a, cross the breast. Upon the head is a short veil, and over it a plain round cap.
The right hand hangs down and holds up the front edge of the mantle. The left hand
is uplifted and has the forefinger hooked over the band of the mantle. The mantle itself
is gathered up on the left side and hangs over the left arm.

N.66. — Warrior in complete mail, with stiff sleeveless surcoat to knees. On his head is a flat-
topped helm, with eyeslit and breathing holes. The right hand, which hung down as if
holding something, is broken off at the forearm. The left hand rests open against the
top of a very pointed shield, with central boss, which hangs in front of the left leg by a
strap passing round the waist. The rivets of the helm are all shown with the utmost
care. (Plate L.)

N.67. — Seated King with slight beard and short wavy hair, in girt tunic and mantle, and
with a crown of fleurons upon the head. The left hand is bare and rests on the knee.
The right also rests on the knee, but holds the hollow socket for a rod or sceptre.

N.68. — Seated Priest in mass vestments. The left hand was upraised, but is broken off at
the wrist. The right hand rests in his lap.

N.69 . — No figure (at any time).

N.70 . — No figure (at any time).

N.71 . — No figure (at any time).

N.72 . — No figure (at any time).

N.73. — Missing.

N.74. — Tall Lady in long gown girded by a strap and covering the feet, and ample mantle
brought round under the left arm and gathered over the raised right arm, which has
lost the hand. The left arm hangs down and the fingers hold one of the folds of the
mantle. The lady’s long hair is covered by a veil hanging over the shoulders down to
the breast and confined by a fillet or round cap.

This figure is formed of two stones. (Plate XLIX.)

N.75. — King with wavy hair and short beard, with a crown of fleurons, now broken. He is
clad in an under-garment to feet, with tight sleeves, and long loose sleeveless upper-

64 The Imagery and Sculptures on the West Front of Wells Cathedral Church

garment. Over the shoulders is a mantle which hangs straight down over the left arm,
hut is gathered up and hangs over the right arm. The right hand is upraised. The
left is broken away at the wrist. (Plate LI.)

N.76. — St. Eustace. Man bareheaded and with short wavy hair, in loose tunic to knees,
girt at the waist and open at the neck, showing an under-garment ; he is also bare-
legged, and standing in water knee deep. On each arm he carries a child dressed in a
long loose robe. Both children are mutilated. Each had a hand on the man's shoulder.
(Plate XXVII.)

N.77. — Seated Man bareheaded with short curly hair, with face turned slightly to left,
sitting on a seat. He wears a long loose gown, partly open at the neck, and girded
with a strap, and a mantle hanging from the shoulders and brought round over the left
leg. The right arm was upraised, but is broken away at the elbow. The left hand
rests against the left leg.

Owing to the position of this figure above the slope of the aisle roof, the right leg
is raised much higher than the other on account of the shape of the niche in which the
figure stands. (Plate LI.)

N.78. — ? St. Theopistis. Slender Lady in long gown, shorter ungirded over dress, mantle,
and short veil. The mantle hangs over both shoulders and is gathered up over the right
arm, the hand of which grasps its band. The left arm and hand are under the mantle.
This figure is carved on two stones, the joint being across the breast. (Plate XXVII.)

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1904.

Published by lbs Society of Antiquaries of London 1903.