Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/452

 444

NOTES AND QUEEIES.

v. JUNE 2, 1900.

La Largesse and L'Avarice, from the left doorway of the fagade of the cathedral at Sens, dating from the end of the twelfth century, and La Liberte, from the north porch of Notre Dame at Chartres. With reference to the latter he adds the following note: " Voyez 1'interessant article de Didron sur les vertus de Notre Dame de Chartres,
 * Annales Archdologiques,' t. vi. p. 35."

In our own country there are representa- tions of several of the vices in the series of sculptures which crown the battlements of the cloisters of Magdalen College, Oxford, executed soon after the middle of the fifteenth century. Two of these, Gluttony and Luxury, are illustrated in Wright's ' History of Caricature and Grotesque,' p. 150, and an interesting reference to them is to be found in Parker's 'Handbook for Visitors to Oxford,' p. 146. BENJ. WALKER.

Langstone, Erdington.

At Roslin Chapel, near Edinburgh, the seven virtues and the seven deadly sins are carved oh the arches of the aisles. In the University Picture Gallery at Oxford are pictures of the seven vices painted on copper by Schalken. The great west window of the chapel of New College, Oxford, contains seven allegorical figures representing the virtues. These were the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose original designs are in the collection of the Earl of Normanton at Somerley, in Hampshire. Above the cloisters in the second quadrangle of St. John's College, Oxford, are busts representing the Christian and cardinal virtues. On the north side of the great quadrangle at Magdalen College, Oxford, are figures of some of the vices. SENGA.

A singularly fine series of carvings repre- senting the vices is amongst the ornaments of the tower of Strassburg Cathedral. The representation of the sin of gluttony is of quite extraordinary power. The carvings are placed high up, and their examination is a matter of some difficulty. Fine photo- graphs of them are, however, obtainable at the photograph shop near to the entrance to the south transept of the church. MR. MARTIN doubtless knows the reliefs atOrvieto Cathedral which deal with the Last Judg- ment, and incidentally depict various virtues and vices. CHARLES HIATT.

' The Passions of Man,' a huge bas-relief in marble by Jef. Lambeaux, the son of Flemish parents and born at Antwerp, has lately been purchased by the Belgian Government, and now stands in the Pare du Cinquantenaire at Brussels, The figures, illustrative of vice

and virtue, are all in the nude. There are two illustrations of portions of it in the Magazine of Art for April. HARRY HEMS. Fair Park, Exeter.

The virtues and vices have often been the subject of artistic treatment, but it does not appear that there is any conventional way of representing them. At the church of St. Severin at Paris there is a painting of the Lamb standing on an eminence, from the foot of which there flow forth the four rivers of Eden, which, according to St. Augustine, represent the four cardinal virtues, prudence, strength, courage, and temperance. Four virtues are also sometimes to be found at the corners of square or oblong objects. They may be seen, for instance, at the corners of the altar in Basle Cathedral, on the tomb of the ill-fated daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and again on the tomb of Francis II., erected at Nantes by his daughter, the well-known Anne of Brittany. Here Justice holds a sword and scales, and is the figure of Anne ; Wisdom has a mirror and a compass, Prudence a lantern and a bridle ; while Strength, in a complete suit of armour, is engaged in strangling a monster.

In the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris the virtues and vices are carved on the central portal. The former are represented as women carrying emblems. Thus Courage has a shield bearing a lion ; Cowardice appears as a man fleeing in terror from a hare. The beautiful pulpit in the church of St. Etienne-du-Mont is adorned with a number of exquisitely carved statuettes representing various virtues. Justice holds a sword, Hope leans on an anchor, Tem- perance is engaged in pouring out water, and so forth. The three theological virtues Faith, Hope, and Charity are also often to be seen in churches. The seven deadly sins are sometimes represented under the form of men, sometimes as women, and some- times as animals. An ingenious artist once painted them as seven dogs of different oreed, placed in various attitudes.

T. P. ARMSTRONG.

Timperley.

I am not sure whether this is what MR. MARTIN needs, but it is sufficiently remark- able to find a place in 'N. & Q.,' though it might have come under some better heading, such as 'Sacred Art-Curiosities of,' &c. In the cathedral church of St. Nicholas, New- castle-upon-Tyne, near the junction of the south aisle with the transept, is a window of four openings, by Wailes, representing the six corporal acts qf inerey, " Hungry and ye.