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Ancient Paintings in Westminster Abbey.

"The height of the enclosure is 13 feet 9 inches, to the top of the finials; and each compartment is about two feet, seven inches wide, being separated from each other by small buttresses. They were originally adorned with a full-length figure in each, painted in oil colours on a ground of plaister, as ancient an example of the art as is to be found in the kingdom, being undoubtedly of the period of Henry IIl. or of Edward 1. The small pillars from which the arches of the several compartments take their spring, were white diapered with black, in various patterns, while the capitals and bases were gilt; but have been all painted black in the recent alteration.

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ed over, a wainscot colour, at the late repairs.

"The figure appeared to have been that of an ecclesiastic; and it may be supposed that the screen or enclosure contained fi

gures of a Kirg and Bishop [or Saint] in alternate succession. This series, it may without presumption be assumed, was continued round the whole choir. The sacerdotal robe was represented of pure white, edged with lace and rich fringe, the colours of which were green, white, and red; the ends of the stole were seen, as well as the bottom of the under garment, or alb, which reached down to the feet, ornamented with a diapered hem, in squares and lozenges, very curiously worked with a mosaic patIttern, in which green, red, blue, and white, and point of the crozier was also seen; the were alternately introduced. The lower part, buskins were purple, but quite plain; at least no ornament could be discerned upon them. The ground of the picture had been a dark brown; and the figure was represented standing on a lawn, or carpet of green, with small sprigs."

The first compartment has been supposed to exhibit King Sebert. must be observed," says Mr. Moule, "that this is merely presumed to be the representation of Sebert, to whom historians agree in attributing the first foundation of a Church at Westminster. There is certainly no objection to be urged as to the identity of the portrait, and it may reasonably be supposed that he would be honoured with the stall nearest the altar." We have, how. ever, an objection to urge, namely, that Sebert was certainly depicted on the other side. This we know from Weever (see hereafter); and it appears to us improbable that he should be placed on both. To proceed:

"This figure is the most perfect of the series, and merits particular attention from the fine state of preservation in which it remains. A venerable personage is represented, bearing in his right hand a sceptre of ancient form, terminating in a pinnacled turret, with his left hand raised in a commanding manner; his head is crowned with a diadem ornamented with strawberry leaves painted on a gold ground; and his beard, of silvery whiteness, is long and curled, with mustachios; his tunic is rose-coloured, worked on the borders and bottom with white and red; his hose are purple; and his shoes, of blue damask, buckle over the instep with a small gold buckle; the ground upon which the figure is painted is a reddish brown, and he is represented standing on a lawn or carpet studded with flowers, &c.; the white gloves on his hands are unadorned with embroidery; and his crown and sceptre, whatever may have been their original appearance, are now of a darkish brown colour."

The next panel or division of the screen exhibited only that portion of the painting which was formerly concealed, the greater part of it having been purposely planed off; and it is now entirely obliterated, having been paint

The third compartment is without hesitation considered to represent Henry III.

"This portrait, upon comparison, is found greatly to resemble the features of the cumbent figure of the Monarch upon his tomb in this Church. It is painted upon a dark brown ground, which is semée of golden lions, passant guardant, in allusion to the charge, in the Royal arms of the Kings of England, of the House of Plantagenet, a very early instance of heraldic decoration.

"The figure of the King is well drawn, and the folds of the drapery are particularly easy and gentle, but very indistinct at the lower extremity: his countenance is mild and expressive; the figure is in action, and evidently commanding attention to the passing scene. He is represented crowned, and in regal robes; the mantle of a murrey colour, is lined with white fur, and guarded with broad lace, and is fastened on the right shoulder by a fibula of a lozenge form. His tunic, which is scarlet, is bound round the waist by a girdle of very rich workmanship, fastened with a gold buckle his gloves also are ornamented on the back of the hand and the bottom of the little finger, with embroidery; the Monarch bears in his right hand a sceptre of ivory, terminating in a rich finial of gold.

"From the other panel the figure is obliterated, the paint having been entirely scraped off the surface by a plane or some such instrument. The pictures that have and interesting, as ancient examples of been suffered to remain are highly curious painting in oil applied to pictures, for the ancients were no strangers to painting doors,

&c.

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PAINTING OF KING EDWARD THE CONFESSOR,

1825.]

Ancient Paintings in Westminster Abbey.

&c. with oil. The art it appears was invented in the Byzantine empire about the year 800. For a long time Constantinople furnished all Europe with artists through the medium of Venice, and to this city the art of Oil-painting seems soon to have passed; hence its progress to Lombardy, where a book was written by Theofilus, probably a Grecian Monk, about the year 1000, which gives directions for oil-paintings, and is called Tractatus Lombardicus.' Eraclius, another old author, proves its use anterior to Van Eyck, to whom Vasari has attributed its invention. Vide Raspe's Essay on Oil Painting, London, 1781, 4to.

"The most ancient pictures in the Musée Royal at Paris, 1814, are said to have been painted at Prague about 1357, being figures of St. Ambrose and St. Augustin, by Theodoric de Prague; and the Crucifixion, by Nicholas Wurmser de Strasbourg; while the portraits on these panels bear every indication of having been executed at the time of the opening of the new Church for Divine Service, 13th October, 1269; at which time the choir appears to have been completed, being in the fifty-fourth year of the reign of Henry III."

That front of the stalls which faces the Ambulatory, has always been open to view; and is engraved in Dart, Ackermann, and Neale. It was not so splendidly ornamented as the principal front; but like it exhibited four figures. These paintings have faded away and peeled off under the public eye, being visible to all entering the Church at the most frequented and, till lately, public door, that of Poet's Corner. The four figures they represented are said to have been St. Peter, St. John the Baptist, King Sebert, and King Edward the Confessor.

Weever tells us that verses, by way of question and answer, were placed underneath the figures; that St. Peter was represented talking to King Sebert; and that the inscription under him was these Leonine verses:

Hic, Her Seberte, pausas; mihi con-
dita per te
Haec loca lustravi, demum lustrando
dicavi.

One of the panels, which was doubtless the first (that stands fourth on the other side, and contains no remains of painting), was (says Mr. Gough, in the Introduction to his Sepulchral Monuments, p. xcii.) deprived of its remaining colours, when it was taken out to form" passage to some of the Royal Family, who were seated in this tomb

GENT. MAG. October, 1825.

305

at Coronations." This fact we do not find noticed by Mr. Moule.

The other panels, Mr. Gough continues, "have been the sport of idle boys, and are completely scratched out. One, however, undoubtedly representing King Edward the Confessor, was so far perfect in 1791, that Mr. Schnebbelie was able to make a drawing of it (see Plate II.) and it was engraved in his Antiquaries' Mu

seum.

King Edward is represented clothed in a tunic and loose robe; his head crowned, and surrounded by a nimbus or glory; his beard long and curled. In his left hand he bears a sceptre, and in his right his constant symbol, the ring, which, according to his wellknown legend, he gave to St. John the Evangelist, when that saint, in the form of a poor man, asked alms of him at the foundation of a church dedicated to the saint, at Clavering in Essex. In the next compartment, as there can be no doubt, St. John stood to receive the gift, and to him we may conclude King Edward's legend was addressed, as King Sebert's to St. Peter.

There is a stone figure in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, which represents King Edward in the same manner. In a woodcut in the Golden Legend printed by Winkin de Worde, 1527, we have him drawn exactly in the same fashion.

The Chapel of Romford, Essex, in which parish the King's Palace of Havering-atte-Bower was situated, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Edward the Confessor; and in the East window of the South aile, as we are informed by Weever, were "the pictures of Edward the Confessor and the two pilgrims," who brought him back the ring when returned by St. John, with this inscription:

Johannes per peregrinos misit Regi
Edwardo [the rest broken out with the glass].

A portraiture of King Edward, as renewed in 1707, under the direction of "John Jarmin, Chapel-Warden," still remains in the chancel window of Romford Chapel, but "the costume of this figure," Mrs. Ogborne informs us, in her History of Essex (which History, by the bye, we much wish she would proceed with), appears to have assumed more from the taste and fancy

of

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On the Introduction of Children into Company.

of the painter who "renewed" it, than from the original.

We shall now conclude this long article by remarking that the saints on both sides the Westminster seats were, there is no doubt, erased as long since as the Reformation, while the Kings were preserved, as usual, because not considered idolatrous images. EDIT.

MR. URBAN,

Sept. 14. THE following is a curious Letter written some years ago, and intended for a late periodical paper; perhaps it may be acceptable to some of your readers. A. H.

THERE are some evils which, tho' they do not come under the denomination of vice or immorality, are yet by their frequency and consequences, worthy of notice; such are all those which interrupt and interfere with the pleasures of society, amongst which may be reckoned the intrusion of children, introduced by the partiality of relations into company, at too early an age either to give or receive satisfaction from sensible conversation, which they entirely prevent, when allowed to engross attention, every one by the laws of civility being obliged to smile and seem pleased at the nonsense of little miss or her brother.

I will briefly give an example to justify my complaint, but beg leave first to premise that I deserve not to be stigmatized as one of those monsters who do not love children, the fear of which reproach forces many people into the absurdity of affecting a fondness they cannot feel, and of acting a part to gain the hearts of parents or friends. Besides that, the love of children always conveys the idea of good nature, and who would not wish to obtain a character so amiable? and nothing is more pleasing than to see the aged, philosophical, and witty, condescending to play with infants, and to be amused by their simplicity, innocence, and chearful recreations, -I only mean that, according to Solomon, there should be a time for all things. In justice to myself, I declare I love every child I behold; their helpless state, their incapacity to offend, with numberless engaging looks and actions, touch the benevolent heart, and I feel a tenderness, with a desire to make them happy more than I know how to express; but I would not infringe on

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the different enjoyments of maturer age, by forcing infants and infantine games at unseasonable times, as in a late visit where I was invited to drink tea and spend the evening with a selected party of both sexes, eminent for genius and taste; men of learning, sensible women, from whose mixed conversation I expected the highest intellectual entertainment, having disengaged myself from a pleasurable party to a place of public resort, that I might join this superior society. Elated with youthful expectation, I flew into the coach at the appointed hour, and found with the lady who called for me a child about seven years old. I was pleased with her aspect, she being a very pretty girl, the daughter of a gentieman distinguished for abilities in the line of literature, as well as for his rank and fortune. The child was introduced by my friend to the company, who were all intimate with her father, so that much attention was paid to Miss. She behaved modestly, and I was pleased with her, till I had the mortification to find that no other conversation could be attempted but such as was adapted to the comprehension of seven years old! And next a proposal was started for her to dance a minuet, when my heart fluttered with apprehension of being chosen for her partner, as I was the youngest person present. So it happened; the child was sent to ask me to refuse seemed impossible, the imputations of rudeness, ill-nature, and affectation, all struck on my imagination. I was therefore obliged, with the best grace I could, and the worst humour that ever I felt for a dance, to exhibit before a small formal circle, more formidable to me than the finest ball-room filled with mixed company, where the attention would have been divided. I had no sooner recovered this effort, than a country dance was proposed, one lady only singing. This amusement I here regretted, as it exhausted that time I hoped would have been employed to better purpose; yet I still expected relief from the arrival of a manly youth about 14 years old, a Westminster scholar, yet modest, polite, and unaffected, whose natural abilities and acquired improvements were of uncommon brilliancy. I wanted an opportunity to converse with him, and had some subjects in store to engage him, but found he also was doomed to be

that

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