401 



SCULPTURE. 



SCULPTURE. 



but during this foreign dominion the native inhabitants had learned 

 to adopt many of the arts. The making of arms and coining money 

 had also taught them some important processes in the more refined 

 arts, and the knowledge thus acquired was not allowed to fall into entire 

 disuse ; and it appears that, after the departure of the Romans, the 

 Britons continued to practise some branches of sculpture. Speed 

 (quoted by Flaxman, ' Lect.' I.) says that " King Cadwallo, being 

 buried in St. Martin's Church, near Ludgate, his image, great and 

 terrible, triumphantly riding on horseback, artificially cast in brass, 

 was placed on the western gate of the city," &c. The workmanship of 

 this " great and terrible " statue was doubtless very rude and barbarous, 

 but it is interesting to find the tradition of a work of art cast in brass 

 in this country at so early a date. The death of Cadwallo is placed at 

 A.D. 677. 



The edifices erected in England after the final settlement of the 

 Saxons in this country, and down to the reign of Henry I., seem to 

 have been nearly in the same style, exhibiting plain fortress-like, con- 

 struction, and repetitions of heavy columns and arches. Sculpture 

 was BO little employed, that it is believed there is no sepulchral statue 

 in England of earlier date than towards the end of the llth century, 

 though the French had begun to decorate their coffin-lids with figures, 

 &c., as early as the 9th. Vie may conclude, therefore, that this prac- 

 tice was first introduced into the country at the Norman invasion. 



All the oldest monuments in which figures are thus represented are 

 of ecclesiastics. Two specimens of these sculptured effigies, carved in 

 very low relief on coffin-shaped slabs, may be seen in the cloisters of 

 W,-t minster Abbey. They are supposed to represent two abbots, 

 Vitalia, who died in 1087, and Crispinus, who died in 1117. Similar 

 monuments are preserved in Worcester cathedral, of St. Oswald and 

 Bishop Wulstan. These sculptures, of extremely rude design and 

 workmanship, have been much injured by time and violence, but they 

 are curious as the earliest examples of the kind in this country. It 

 has beeu thought probable that one reason for not decorating with 

 figures, or any distinguishing device, the stone coffins in which more 

 illustrious persons were enclosed, was to preserve them from the 

 chance of violence which might have been offered to them, in order to 

 gain possession of the ornaments that usually were deposited with 

 individuals of exalted rank. Several monuments of bishops and abbots 

 which have been opened have shown the deceased fully habited in his 

 episcopal robes, with his ring on his hand, and an enriched crozier 

 either lying by his side or across the body. The more sacred character 

 of the occupant of the tomb, and of the objects buried with him, 

 might prevent any indignity being offered to them ; but kings and 

 princes would not be considered in the same view, and, as they would 

 no doubt be even more richly dressed than ecclesiastics, however high 

 their rank, their tombs would offer greater temptation to sacrilegious 

 avarice. The circumstance of the tomb of William Kufus in Win- 

 chester cathedral being entirely devoid of ornament may be thus 

 accounted for. That of Oundred, daughter of William the Conqueror, 

 at St. John's church, Southover, is inscribed, and embellished with 

 foliage, heads, and other decorations, but there is no figure of the 

 deceased on it. 



When the Crusaders returned from the Holy Land, they endeavoured 

 tn introduce into England a taste for the magnificence they bad 

 witnessed in foreign countries, and imitations were attempted of the 

 rich foliage and other decorations employed in their architecture, lu 

 the west door of Rochester cathedral are some figures so applied. 



Wu believe the earliest specimen in England of figures in armour is 

 of the time of Richard I. Those in the Temple church, of Hagnaville 

 or Mandeville, earl of Essex, and of two other knighta similarly habited, 

 are probably of this date. 



The first example that occurs in England of a monumental figure 

 in royal costume is that of king John, on his tomb in Worcester 

 cathedral. An interesting proof that the figures carved on the lids of 

 tombs were tolerably accurate representations of the persons whose 

 remains they contained, was afforded by the opening the coffin of king 

 John in the year 1797. The body, Ac., was in a state of sufficient 

 preservation to nhow that it had been dressed in precisely the same 

 costume as that represented in the sculptured effigy. 



Wells cathedral was built by Bishop Joceline, who died in 1242. 

 The west front of this church is richly studded with sculpture, con- 

 sisting of representations, in relief, of Scripture subjects, and of statues, 

 many of them of colossal dimensions, of kings, queens, saints, bishops, 

 and other patrons or dignitaries of the church. This work must have 

 been in progress at the time that Niccolo Pisano, the restorer of 

 sculpture in Italy, was exercising his art in his own country. Flaxman 

 (' Lectures on Sculpture ') thinks that the greater part of the sculpture 

 was by English artists. Some of the statues exhibit much grace 

 and simplicity, and, allowing for the very rude state of art at the time 

 they were produced, they deserve the attention of the curious. The 

 sculpture of the succeeding reign was probably by Italian artists, 

 scholars, or imitators of Niccolo Pisano, who travelled about in search 

 of employment in those countries where ecclesiastical buildings were 

 being erected. The richly decorated crosses that were rawed to 

 distinguish the spots wherein the body of Queen Eleanor rested, were 

 >ly by these artists, as well as the statues of Edward I. and 

 Eleanor in Westminster Abbey. The flat brasses with figures 

 sculptured, or rather engraved on them, and let into stone slabs, are 



ABT8 AND SCI. DIV. VOL. VII. 



mostly of the 14th century, few being met with earlier than the reigu 

 of Edward II. 



Under Edward III. it appears that our own countrymen were capable 

 of exercising some branches of the arts of design. Many specimens of 

 that date remain to prove both the extent to which sculpture was 

 employed, and the merits of the artists by whom the several works 

 were executed. Some interesting examples of art of the 14th century 

 may be seen in three recumbent statues in memory of the sons of 

 Edward III. : one is of the Black Prince, in Canterbury Cathedral; 

 another of Prince William of Windsor, in Westminster Abbey ; and 

 the third of Prince William of Hatfield, in York Minster. These 

 works were executed between the years 1344 and 1378. There are 

 also three remarkable windows of this date at Dorchester Church near 

 Oxford : one of them is adorned with between twenty and thirty small 

 statues relating to the genealogy of our Saviour ; the others contain 

 reliefs representing Scripture subjects. Various other equally interest- 

 ing works, exhibiting the progress of the art, belong to this date ; and 

 the names of several English artists employed by Edward III. at West- 

 minster are recorded. (' History of Westminster Palace,' by Smith ; 

 Flaxman, &c.) The figure, in plate armour, of Beauchamp, Earl of 

 Warwick, on his tomb in the Warwick Chapel, with the numerous 

 smaller statues let into niches around it, is the work of William 

 Austin, an English sculptor and founder. It was executed in 1439. 



The chapel of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey is one of the most 

 beautiful specimens of rich architectural decoration that exists in this 

 or perhaps any country. The statues within and without it are said to 

 have amounted originally to 3000, but the number is probably exagge- 

 rated. An Italian artist, Torreggiauo, assisted in the construction o 

 this magnificent tomb ; but there is strong reason to believe he was 

 employed on the tomb only, and that the greater portion of the sculp- 

 tures in other parts of the chapel were executed before he arrived in 

 the country, and it is presumed they were the productions of native 

 artists. Some of these statues show a beautiful feeling for art, and are 

 well worthy of attention for the simplicity and grace of their action, 

 and for the tasteful arrangement and careful execution of the draperies. 



From the reign of Henry VIII. to Charles I. sculpture fell into 

 neglect. Indeed it frequently happened that, during the religious 

 animosities and the party violence that prevailed, works of art, and 

 more especially works of sculpture, were purposely destroyed. Charles 

 I. showed a strong disposition to encourage the arts. The celebrated 

 Cartoons of Raffaelle were purchased by order of the king, and, with 

 other fine works, were brought into this country. In this reign we 

 meet with the names of English sculptors. Christmas executed a 

 monument to Sir AVilliam Pitt and his lady, at Strathfieldsay in Hamp- 

 shire ; and Stone is the author of a monument in Westminster Abbey, 

 in memory of Sir George Holies, which is not without merit. Gene- 

 rally speaking, however, the style and composition of these and other 

 works of the time are utterly worthless, but there is some boldness 

 occasionally in the conception, which may claim for them a passing 

 notice. The sculpture on the pedestal of the Monument of London, 

 representing Charles II., attended by allegorical groups, raising the 

 City of London (under the form of a prostrate female figure), is a 

 striking example of the pseudo-classical and false taste, in art, of the 

 17th century. After this time, the principal works in England were 

 by foreigners ; and the names that most frequently occur are Gibber, 

 Steevens, De Vere, Bertocini, Scheemacker, and Roubiliac, as the 

 authors of monuments and whatever other productions were required 

 in sculpture. This variety of artists, as Flaxman observes, from 

 different countries, French, Flemings, and Italians, sometimes 

 brought the taste of Jean Uoujon or Puget, sometimes a debased 

 imitation of Giovanni di Bologna and the Florentine school, and some- 

 times the taste of Bernini, but never a pure and sound principle. 

 In 1706 an English sculptor, Nathaniel Read, executed a monument, 

 which may be seen in Westminster Abbey, in memory of Admiral 

 Tyrrell. It would not be easy to convey by description any just 

 idea of the strange conceits and incongruous imagery that abound 

 in this work ; and without the aid of the inscription it would be 

 impossible to comprehend the purpose and subject of the artist's 

 ingenious, and, it may truly be said, costly labours. Admiral Tyrrell 

 died at sea, and his body was committed to the deep. In the lower 

 part of the composition are three allegorical figures, life-size ; one of 

 them represents Ireland, as the admiral, we are told, was descended 

 from an ancient family of that country, and above is the apotheosis 

 of the deceased. The ' Historical Description of Westminster Abbey,' 

 after giving the explanatory inscription, notices the work in the 

 following words : " On a piece of rock ' The sea shall give up 

 her dead, and every one shall be rewarded according to his works.' 

 The figures of History, Navigation, and Hibernia are well cut ; they 

 are represented among the rocks, with the sea above their heads, 

 the admiral himself ascending amidst heavy clouds." This fully 

 describes the style of the art during the greater part of the 18th 

 century. Allegorical pictures were executed in stone and marble, and 

 it was absolutely necessary to have explanations attached to the work 

 in order to enable the spectator to comprehend the meaning of the 

 sculpture. The monuments contain every variety of a most confined 

 idea ; and Time, Fame, and Death, represented in the most absurd, 

 and often most objectionable forms, are made the accompanying illus- 

 tration to almost every work on which the sculptor was employed. 



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