Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/279

 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE. 259 or powdered with foliage. In this design a greater variety of colours wei-e employed than in the former paintings, the Virgin being habited in blue, and various colours being used in other parts. " Over the west tower-arch in the nave is another painting, representing the Last Judgment, in the usual style of the medieval artists. The tombs (which are here stone coffins) every where are giving up their dead, the souls of the righteous are ascending to heaven, pourtrayed in the upper part, while the wicked are cast by fiends into the place of torment, which occupies the lower corner on the south side, and is represented as usual by an enormous head, having glaring eyes and a wide open mouth, with large teeth, out of which issue flames, in the midst of which appear the souls of the evil doers. Under this and immediately over the front of the arch are the remains of a Latin text allusive to the subject, but of which only a few words are now legible. Under this on the north side of the arch, is a figure of St. Peter much mutilated, but still exhibiting the patriarchal staflT and cross keys in his left hand, and on the opposite side, St. Paul, in a scarlet cope lined with fur, with a book in his left hand, and the sword, point up- wards, in his right. The background of both these figures is dark brown red, and this colour seems to prevail much on the walls of the aisles and on the pillars of the nave, all of which have been painted, but it is impossible now to make out the designs. " The painting of the Last Judgment was afterwards like the others washed over at a much later period, and the surface apparently covered with texts of Scripture. There are also traces of ornamental work which it is now impossible to make out, except a large Tudor rose which partly covers St. Peter. At a subsequent period these were covered over with the arms of George III., the creed, commandments, Sec, in which state they remained till discovered as before related. " The west end of the nave is mostly of late and debased character, and the paintings of this part agree very well with the date. These consist of the plume of the Prince of Wales surmounted with the royal crown, and having the initials H. P.; this is three times repeated, and below these have been texts of Scripture, principally from the Psalms, but now too much de- faced to be easily legible. Tlie initials and badge are most probably those of Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I., who died in 1612, this date agreeing very well with that of the alteration of the west end. "The Last Judgment seems to have been a not unusual subject for the decoration of spaces in similar situations in churches. It occurs in Cas- sington, near Oxford, over a similar arch, and also at St. Michael's, Coventry; in all three instances the general treatment of the subject is the same. At Cassington also, besides the Last Judgment, there are some well drawn figures of saints. " Considerable remains of painting are likewise found in other churches in the neighbourhood. Those at Stanton Harcourt have been described in the Archseological Journal «; and at Islip, the subject of St. Michael, as « Vol. ii. pp. 365—368.