Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/595

 n s. vi. DEC. 21, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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into four parts by a large cross in outline, on which must once have been a sculptured crucifix, while the lower sections were sub- divided by the figures, probably, of Our Lady and St. John, outlines of which remain.

The groundwork is tinted a dull green, and if the colours be unrestored, they have wonderfully kept their freshness. Above the dexter cross-beam is Our Lord as Judge, seated on the rainbow, a crimson cloak round His body, all the marks of the Cruci- fixion being shown. Above His head is the sun ; a scroll from which the inscrip- tion is gone comes from His right hand, raised in blessing.

Below the dexter beam are the good souls. Four are being received by St. Peter, "in full papal attire. He stands at the door of Heaven, from which he was separated in the pristine glory of the Doom by a sculp- tured figure. The four good souls are nude, but two, a male and female, wear crowns, a third a mitre, and a fourth a cardinal's hat. These were, of course, a king, queen, bishop, and cardinal. I do not know if they were portraits. Beyond is Heaven a fine mansion with windows and a loop- hole. An angel stands at each door, admit- ting a " good soul." The fresh, blithe face of the angel at the extreme dexter is abso- lutely, not only archaeologically, lovely, and has haunted me ever since I saw it. The upper part of the mansion was destroyed by the stovepipe.

Opposite the figure of Our Lord, above the sinister beam of the Cross, are Our Lady (uncrowned, the moon above her head) and St. John the Baptist, interceding ; and immediately below them three or four figures are shown, rising from the dead. Below the sinister beam is the group of " Soul-Weighing/' St. Michael, in crimson and white, holds the sword and balance, in which two small demons (a man's bad deeds) are being weighed against a small nude human figure (a man's good deeds). The good deeds are, in this case, outweighing the bad. Xear is the Devil, holding scrolls from which the legend has gone, and having horns, wings, and tail.

Behind this, and divided from it formerly by a sculptured figure, are the ' ; Jaws of Hell " a dragon's or leviathan's mouth, with eyes, fangs, and snout. On the head sits a demon, blowing a horn, while within the jaws a demon drags eight or nine figures, prodded from behind by a devil with a two- pronged fork. A female figure is being dragged down by a third spirit.

I have no further details in my notes, and the only picture I have is indistinct. The architectural details, the garb of St. Peter, the cardinal's hat, &c., and the dark complexions of all the persons con- cerned, would lead one to ascribe the Doom to the end of the fifteenth century or beginning of the sixteenth. The excellent preservation of the whole thing leads one to suppose it to have been moder- ately fresh at the Reformation white- washing. There is a good deal of fifteenth- century or early sixteenth-century restora- tion work in the church, and the painting of the Doom may very likely have been part of a large scheme for church repairs and decoration.

In comparing the proportion of Dooms on panels to Dooms on the actual wall of the church, it must be remembered that panel- work would be more perishable, and more apt to be lost or destroyed, or taken as builder's perquisite. There is every hope that many of the whitewashed walls of our country churches may bear Dooms, preserved by their present disfigurement to future generations. Thus at Dawntrey (Dauntsey ?), Wilts, some of the panels have been found and placed together : others are still miss- ing. The right place for the Doom was the chancel arch, and if there were none, the space between rood-screen and roof might have often been filled by a panelled partition. At St. Michael's, St. Albans, the Doom, portions of which still survive, was painted partly on the wall, partly on panel.

The whitewash on the walls of the Guild Chapel, Stratford-on-Avon, still holds its treasures concealed. In 1804, during some repairs, these mural pictures were un- covered and copied by Thos. Fisher. This series was published in colours, together with other interesting relics of Stratford. As at Wenhaston, Doom and Rood were incorporated in an effectual ' ; memento mori." The Cross and figures must be much smaller, and above sits Our Lord on the rainbow, Mary as Queen of Heaven and St. John the Baptist interceding. The upper dexter part is filled by Heaven, a castellated mansion, with angels on the ramparts. St. Peter, keys in hand, stands at the door, receiving a group of about eighteen " souls," male and female one crowned, one mitred, two (I think) with papal tiaras. In the dexter foreground are " souls " rising from stone tombs and from the ground one in crown, one in tiara, one mitred, and three tonsured.