228 The Field Naturalises Quarterly Aug. 



for the very simple reason that they would be sufficiently 

 lasting, and quite as lasting as deeply-cut works on soft 

 stone. Another characteristic mark of Norman sculptures 

 is that the sculptures of the earlier period were such as could 

 be done with the axe ; those of the later period were such as 

 could be done by means of the chisel. Therefore the earlier 

 sculptures show signs of chipping off (generally attributed to 

 frost or vandals) ; whereas the later sculptures show signs 

 of chisel-marks without the smoothness or polish of modern 

 works. 



The head of the Norman church doorway is usually semi- 

 circular ; but sometimes it is square - headed, the space 

 where the lintel or straight beam would have been being 

 filled up with a stone slab technically called the tympanum. 

 Of this the western doorway of Rochester Cathedral is a 

 good example. I cannot call to mind a single instance 

 where the tympanum is used plain — i.e., without a subject 

 carved on it. I think this increased space gave the devout 

 Norman builder another opportunity for making his prin- 

 cipal church doorway prominent. The following are some 

 of the Scriptural subjects commonly found carved on the 

 tympanum: (i) "The Tree of Life"; (2) "I am the 

 Door"; (3) "The Good Shepherd"; (4) "The Lamb of 

 God"; (5) "The Virgin and the Child," &c. With the 

 fashion of utilising the tympanum for illustrating Scriptural 

 subjects came the idea of similarly utilising the piers, 

 capitals, &c., of the principal doorway. Thus a connected 

 (if not complete) symbolism of ' Paradise Lost,' or ' Para- 

 dise Regained,' or both, came to be carved. For an il- 

 lustration let us look at the south doorway of St David's 

 Church, Kilpeck, Herefordshire.^ The carvings on the 

 upper margin of the semicircular head are intended to 

 represent the animal creation, and in their midst large 

 eyes are carved to symbolise " God saw." The harp sym- 

 bolises harmony or "that it was good." On the tympanum 

 is the hypothetical representation of " the Tree of Life." 

 On the doorpost or piers are to be noticed the " serpent," 

 primitive man, and the intertwinings of good and evil. 



Next to the doorways, the Normans paid great care and 



^ This will be described and illustrated in a future issue of the F.N.Q. — Flo. 



