EARLY CHRISTIAN ART AND INSCRIPTIONS 



of the beast. The man is surrounded by interlaced bands terminating in leaves ; and behind him 

 at the right-hand corner of the tympanum, are a pair of wings fastened together at the top by a 

 cord. I 



The most interesting of the miscellaneous architectural details decorated 

 with symbolic figure-sculpture in Northamptonshire are on the capitals of the 

 columns of the arches beneath the central tower of Castor Church and on the 



Tympanum over south dooruay, Pitsford Church 



capitals of the chancel arch in Wakerley Church. The subjects represented 

 on the capitals at Castor are as follows : — 



Chancel Arch, North Side.^ — Centre Capital, man with three hounds hunting a wild boar ;' 

 Right Capital, Samson or David rending the lion's jaw (?) ; * Left Capital, bull and foliage 

 (restored). 



1 In Christian art, scenes representing either men or angels fighting with beasts or dragons are used to 

 symbolize the everlasting conflict between the powers of good and evil. Taken from Scripture are Samson and 

 the Lion, David and the Lion, and St. Michael and the Dragon. To these from legendary sources is added 

 St. George and the Dragon. The sculpture on the Pitsford tympanum does not resemble any of the well-know'n 

 conventional ways of treating these subjects. Neither Samson nor David was armed with a sword when over- 

 coming the lion. St. George is almost invariably depicted as a warrior on horseback, as at Ruardean, in 

 Gloucestershire, and St. Michael on foot, his angelic character being indicated by wings, as at Hoveringham, 

 in Nottinghamshire. What can be the meaning of the extraordinary accessories introduced on the Pitsford 

 tympanum, the conical object and the pair of wings ? I think there can be no doubt that, whatever the 

 subject may be, the symbolism is the same as that of St. Michael and the Dragon. The only question is 

 whether the sculptor may not have substituted for the Scripture scenes, which are univers.ally recognized as 

 typifying the contest between good and evil, some similar incident taken from the literature of folk talcs of the 

 period. 



^ These capitals have been much restored (Sweeting, Parish Churches in and around Peterborough, 1 868, 1 7). 



^ Hunting scenes occur with great frequency on the early sculptured stones of Scotland, and also not 

 uncommonly in Norman sculpture. In the former case the stag is generally the object of the chase, but in the 

 latter the wild boar. On the capital at Castor the hunter is on foot and armed with a spear. One of the 

 three hounds has been ripped in two pieces by the boar's tusks, the head and forepaws being on the ground 

 whilst the hind-quarters have been tossed in the air. The other two hounds are following behind, baying 

 vigorously and eager to avenge their comrade's untimely end. Similar scenes are sculptured on the capitals of 

 the chancel arch of Liverton in Yorkshire, and on the medallions on the doorway at Brayton in the same 

 county. It is well known that the chase was used for purposes of symbolism in the literature of the Middle 

 Ages, and when it appears in the decoration of an ecclesiastical building there seems little reason to doubt that 

 it was intended to be something more than mere ornament. At Liverton the chase is associated with such a 

 purely Scriptur.il subject as the Temptation of Adam and Eve ; and at Castor it is placed side by side with 

 Samson or David rending the lion's jaw. 



■* Samson or David and the Lion was a favourite subject on the early crosses in Ireland and Scotland as 

 well as in Norman sculpture (see J. R. Allen, Early Christian Symbolism, 203). 



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