Some Newly Discovered Wall-Paintings at Madley, Herefordshire
The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin at Madley (about six miles west of Hereford), widely admired for its architecture, its unusual crypt, and the rich stained glass of its east window, houses another piece of medieval art which to date has remained virtually unknown: a sizable group of painting...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
1968
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| In: |
Traditio
Year: 1968, Volume: 24, Pages: 464-471 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin at Madley (about six miles west of Hereford), widely admired for its architecture, its unusual crypt, and the rich stained glass of its east window, houses another piece of medieval art which to date has remained virtually unknown: a sizable group of paintings on the upper part of the wall above the chancel arch. So far as I am aware, the existence of such paintings at Madley has been acknowledged only in a vague and rather inaccurate notation by C. E. Keyser in 1883: ‘Over the chancel arch; Our Lord in Glory, and in Humiliation. Traces of painting elsewhere throughout the church. Probably about 1300.’ W. E. H. Clarke, writing in 1916, refers to Keyser's description and adds, ‘It is very much to be regretted that restorations have removed every trace of these mural paintings.’ The inventory of the Royal Commission reports simply, ‘Painting: Over chancel-arch, traces of large figure-subject, probably a Doom’ — a reference which seems to underlie Nikolaus Pevsner's ‘painting. Traces above the chancel arch.’ The inclusive volumes of E. W. Tristram on English medieval wall-painting, and the more recent ‘Selective Catalogue’ compiled by A. Caiger-Smith, make no mention whatever of Madley. This continuing unawareness of a substantial group of paintings not hidden under whitewash or plaster, during a time of increasing general interest in the discovery and preservation of medieval wall-painting, must be blamed partly on the condition of the paintings themselves, which are rather faint and can be fairly described as dilapidated. A more important factor, however, is the exceptional height and narrowness of the nave, particularly above the clerestory; an inevitable effect of this architectural feature is to bury the upper part of the wall over the chancel arch in permanent deep shadow, which—together with the distance from which the paintings must be viewed, and an incidental visual obstacle created by the easternmost tie-beam of the nave and its shadow — makes them normally impossible to see (Fig. 1). |
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| ISSN: | 2166-5508 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Traditio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0362152900004839 |