MEDIAEVAL PAINTING 



a figure representing a vice and thrusting it into the throat of the monster, 

 through whose body it passed to be cast naked into the mouth of hell below. 

 Over the head of each vice was a label with its name. Avaritia, Ira, 

 Socordia, and Invidia were the only ones preserved. Falling headlong from 

 the topmost branch, dragged down by chains hauled by demons grotesquely 

 habited, was a figure richly clothed and crowned, probably meant to repre- 

 sent Siiperbia. On each side of the topmost branch of the tree stood two 

 angels (only one of which remained) clothed in parti-coloured tunics and 

 blowing trumpets as if to call attention to the scene passing beneath. The 

 colours employed were principally brown, purple, and red, the dress of the 

 falling figure being of this hue. Little could be made out of the next 

 composition, which is supposed to have represented the Virtues opposed 

 to the Vices of the demon tree. In the third division the Seven Sacra- 

 ments of the Church found a place, and then on the remaining wall spaces 

 followed a Crucifixion, the Salutation of the Virgin, and the Nativity. The 

 subjects in the frieze above the south arcade comprised the Martyrdoms of 

 St. Lawrence and St. Catherine, the history of St. John the Baptist and 

 St. Margaret. 



All these latter pictures showed varied colouring, the figures relieving 

 dark off a light ground, but not strongly so. The general ground appeared 

 to have been a golden buff slightly darker than the natural tone of the wall 

 plaster. Some of the draperies were slightly shaded, the folds of others were 

 only indicated by lines. The flesh tints were pale. The same element of 

 the grotesque which characterized the paintings at Limpenhoe and at Sporle 

 was visible in those at Catfield, offering in this respect a contrast to the spirit 

 in which those at West Somerton were conceived, though they all belonged 

 to the fourteenth century, those at West Somerton being of the middle, while 

 those just described were of a quite late date in that century. 



As the years progressed, the art of painting became more realistic, and 

 by the time the early and especially the middle part of the fifteenth century 

 was reached, the accessories of any given scene represented gained in import- 

 ance. They ceased to be mere symbols, there was a greater attempt at light 

 and shade than in the previous periods, and the subjects had rather the 

 appearance of pictures hung upon a wall in the modern fashion than of being 

 part and parcel with it. Something of this character might be seen in the 

 paintings brought to light in 1859 on the north wall of the church at Witton, 

 near North Walsham, unhappily now all again whitewashed over. On this 

 wall, close to the north door, was depicted the popular legend of St. Chris- 

 topher bearing the Divine Infant on his shoulder across a turbulent river, the 

 fish playing about his feet. To the right of the Saint, who supports his steps 

 with a staff made out of a huge palm tree, and over the door, the hermit by 

 whose means Christopher was converted to Christianity stands, throwing a 

 light from his lantern over the dark waters of the river. The dress of the 

 Saint was represented as loose and flowing and treated unconventionally. 

 The figure was upwards of 1 1 feet in height. Beneath the painting was a 

 band on which an inscription in black-letter with many contractions gave 

 the first line of a Latin hymn to St. Christopher. The work was executed 

 in tempera as usual, but, as is not usual, upon the rough plastering. Effigies 

 of St. Christopher were extremely common in the churches of the middle 

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