60 SECOND ANNUAL MEETING. 
may have partaken of the royal influence. Flaxman 
notices especially the zeal and success with which 
sculpture was practised at this period. Amongst the 
works best known is the chapel of Edward the Con- 
fessor in Westminster Abbey, a building of singular 
beauty. In that chapel is placed Henry’s own tomb, with 
those of his eldest son Edward I, and of Queen Eleanor, 
the first wife of the latter. The tombs of Henry and 
Eleanor have been frequently the subject of praise for 
their exquisite beauty, and, to use Flaxman’s words, well 
deserve our respect and attention. The marble work of 
Queen Eleanor’s tomb is said to have been executed by 
Richard de Crundale. The statue, which is of metal, 
originally richly coated with gold, was the work of Master 
William Torell, who doubtless executed the adjoining tomb 
of Henry HI.* 
We gather from the above and other sources of infor- 
mation, regarding the memorials of conjugal love, which 
Edward I. raised in honour of his beloved queen, that at 
this period England possessed native artists competent to 
execute the finest works, and that a resort to the continent 
for a supply of such persons was therefore needless.f The 
fact is here mentioned, as we shall doubtless regard the 
sculpture at Wells, and on our other cathedrals with 
additional interest, if satisfied that it is the work of 
English artists. 
To return to the sculpture at Wells, we find that Flaxman, 
equally with Mr. Cockerell, appreciated these works of art, 
and the criticism of that distinguished sculptor well deserves 
our attention. Referring to the west front, he speaks of it 
* Mr. Hunter’s valuable paper on the death of Queen Eleanor, Arch- 
z»ologia, vol. xxix., 190. Stothard’s Monumental Efägies, p. 32. 
t “ Manners and Household Expenses, &e.,’ ut supra, Ixxviii. 
