Rogier van der Weyden's Seven Sacraments is an extraordinary painting. In this post I explore the depictions of the Mass within and what it might say about the lay experience of the Eucharist in medieval Europe.
Chantries, poor livings and the gift of a lectern
Late medieval gospel lecterns are wonderful things and I have blogged about them and their purpose before. There are quite a number of 15th-century latten lecterns in Norfolk and Suffolk, but the example from Oxborough in Norfolk, dating from the 1480s, is particularly impressive. Not only is it a delightful object visually, with its eagle... Continue Reading →
The Image of Pity – the Wellingham rood screen.
Wellingham is a remote little hamlet in the middle of Norfolk to the south of Fakenham. It's church, heavily rebuilt in 1896 is rather undistinguished, but it contains a great treasure. The dado of a rood screen from the 1530s. Rather interestingly the screen is inscribed and precisely dated. The inscription on the upper... Continue Reading →