322 



No. XI.-JUDGE POWELL AND HIS WIFE MARGARET (1635). 



An altar tomb much mutilated, with two recumbent figures of a gentleman 

 and lady, in the costumes of James I. and Charles I. The figures represent 

 Andrew Powell, a judge on the Welsh Circuit for the counties of Glamorgan, 

 Brecon, and Radnor, 1615— 1G35, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Matthew 

 Herbert, grandson of Sir Richard Herbert, Coldbrook. 



The general decadence in art is too plainly apparent in this pair of effigies. 



No. XII. -DR. DAVID LEWIS (1585). 



An altar tomb of freestone, representing Dr. David Lewis, judge of the High 

 Court of Admiralty in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. A monument of high 

 interest, and unique, and bearing decorations having reference both to the 

 individual, and to the office he held. It is believed to have been made during 

 his life-time under his own personal directions. The figure represents the judge 

 in his robes of office. The head rests on a small clasped book, beneath which 

 is a very large one, and under this a cushion. On his head is the flat round cap 

 of a Doctor of Civil Law of Oxford. He is habited in a doublet, with a ruff 

 round the neck and at the wrists. His hands are raised in prayer, and his feet 

 rest on something too mutilated to be made out, possibly a sort of state slipper — 

 perhaps trimmed with ermine. The lower part of the altar tomb presents a 

 deeply moulded base and slab. It contains several curious emblems connected 

 with the Admiralty. Dr. Lewis died unmarried, April 27th, 1584. This tomb 

 has been well preserved, and the three front panels are boldly designed. 



No. XIII.— FIGURE OF JESSE (Carved in Oak). 



The remains of a grand example of a " Jesse Tree," perhaps the finest now to 

 be found. It is not monumental, but is supposed to have formed part of the 

 reredos of the High Altar, between the Choir and the Lady Chapel. The Tree of 

 Jesse is an emblematical representation of the genealogy of our Saviour from 

 David, formed by a tree growing out of the body of Jesse, the father of David, 

 who lies asleep (Isaiah, chap. xi). It was often met with at the close of the 12th 

 century. The " Iconographie Chretienne " thus describes a Jesse Tree, " Jesse 

 asleep serves in some sort as the root of the mysterious stem, which issues some- 

 times from his breast, sometimes ^from his mouth, and sometimes from his brain. 

 Branches diverge from the stem, and bear on their extremities one of the an- 

 cestors of our Saviour ; at the summit one full blown flower serves as the throne 

 of Mary, sometimes alone, at other times holding in her arms the divine Child." 



This figure is the colossal statue of a man representing Jesse lying asleep, 

 and reclining on his right side. The head, which has a long flowing beard, is 

 covered with a cap, and reposes on a cushion, supported by an angel ; the body 

 and legs being clothed with folds of drapery. From the left side of the body 

 issues the stem of the tree, a vine, grouped and supported by the left hand of the 



