Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/271

 THE AKClIAKoEnCICAl, INSTITLJTR. :,'I tlie desire of tlio Mogliul ruler that the French, niul hy inference the English rrinco should unite with him in a general attack upon the Mohammedans. Mr. Nkshitt road a further notice of sepulchral brasses on the coutinent, hitherto undescribed, and produced rubbings of some R])lcndid memorials existing in the cathedral of Brcslau, one of them representing I'etcr, second Bishop of Brcslau, of that name ; he died in 1450. Another brass, of great beauty of execution, commemorates Bishop Rudolph, who died in 1482. Mr. Edward liicnAROSOx gave the following notice of the restoration of a statue which fell from its niclic at Wells Cathedral, in August, 1850. practicability of putting together the fallen statue, the opinion being strongly against the attempt, 1 proceeded to Wells, examined the various fragments, and considered the course to be pursued. "The statue is in Daidtingstone, 8 feet 6 inches high, in a sitting attitude ; it is of the time of John or early Henry III., and finely executed. " To render it lighter for raising, it had been cored out from behind ; this had so weakened the lower part of the statue, that, assisted by natural decay, it divided there, and the whole upper part was thrust outwards, and falling from the height of about GO feet, was broken into numerous frag- ments. The head, M'liich is full of fine character, had originally been fractm-cd, and bolted together with lead ; these massive bolts running from the forehead to the back of the neck were torn asunder by the fall ; a third fragment with part of the beard was afterwards recovered from the uiche, with remains of the plinth. " Great difficulty was found in fitting the pieces of the statue together, and in several instances the intervening piece was wanting ; as any two pieces were found to fit they were bedded together, and cramped or bolted. After a time the prostrate statue resolved itself into three parts ; the head ; part of the nose, and points of the crown alone being wanting ; the trunk, to the waist-girdle ; the left shoulder, arms from elbow, hands, and centre drapery wanting ; and the lower part, consisting chiefly of the thigh and leg pieces, finely draped ; the centre part, with feet and whole of plinth being wanting. These various parts were modelled, and afterwards carved in Uaulting-stone and attached with cement, cramped and bolted, and a new plinth substituted of sufficient extent to serve also as a stay for the limbs and back support. The minor fractures were made good in a durable stone-cement. From 50 to 100 cramps and bolts were required. The new parts were turned down and left cross-dragged. The new base enables the statue to stand erect without support, so that when replaced, cramping will scarcely be necessary. As in the putting together, the figure grew as it were in two nearly equal parts, it was thought safer for raising to leave them detached, and the joint being at the waist-belt will be unseen when fixed. The weight of the lower piece is upwards of half a ton ; the upper piece about a quarter. " Carter, who has but slightly illustrated the whole of the beautiful series of statues of the west front, represents the statue with arms and other parts wanting. A deed or charter as I suppose depended from the right knee on which the right hand rests ; the left holds the mantle-fastening. There appear to be two under garments, the outer one sleeved to the elbow, and
 * ' Having been in communication with Mr. Markland, of Bath, as to the