Medieval Art in Ripon Cathedral...

[endlessrarities]

And now, a daily dose of culture!

Back to Ripon Cathedral, and some of its artwork.  I'll start on the woodwork tomorrow, and dazzle you with some lovely misericords...

Today, it's sculpture of a different kind. 

A funeral monument, first of all, featuring an effigy of a knight :-

 

The knight in question is Sir Thomas Markenfield, and he is noteworthy for the unusual motif of a stag impaled (i.e. enclosed, not shoved unceremoniously onto a spike) at his collar:-

 

The stag is thought to symbolise his allegiance to Henry IV.

Another figure who seems to crop up in various places throughout the cathedral is one rather familiar to Scots:-

 

It's James VI, King of Scots, (James I of England).  He has strong associations with Ripon, having re-established the Chapter in 1604 at the behest of his wife, Queen Anne of Denmark (thanks to 'Ripon Cathedral: 1300 Years of Worship and History' by Barton and Punshon for that little pearl of wisdom).  This particular statue is Victorian, but there is another dating back to the early seventeenth century.

And lastly, one of the real treasures of Ripon Cathedral, a fourteenth century alabaster tablet featuring the Resurrection:-
 

 

It's one of a series of such tablets featured throughout the building.  They were found beneath the Dean's stall, where they'd been hidden by some foresighted clergyman before the Reformation, presumably because he quite rightly feared that they wouldn't survive the religious purges on 'idolatry'.

Having read the guide book, I'm forced to confess that a return visit will definitely have to be in order.  There are original medieval wall-paintings in one of the chapels, but it's not normally open  and you have to ask to be granted access.  I was, of course, oblivious to this during my visit...

A good excuse for another holiday in those parts, I think!!  Though God knows when....
 

Comments

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind me adding you. We used to start one of our bike rides from Ripon. I didn't realise what a jewel I was missing!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Hello! Not at all - glad to have you aboard!!

Ripon looks like a good place to use as a base to go cycling from - as long as you head out in the right direction. Our bikes didn't leave the car when we got to Pately Bridge 'cos I was a big wuss and I couldn't face the hills!

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

Many thanks. My ancestors reputedly came from East Hauxwell. We devised a (flattish) circular route which began at Ripon and allowed us a picnic stop at the church there.
Brownie points for even considering cycling around Pately Bridge. The chevrons on the OS map would deter me!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I had my doubts before we left - we've tried cycling in the Lake District before, and that was hurrendous! 1 in 4's all over the place.

I think I'd need a compact chainset or a triple ring on my roadbike before even contemplating such a feat these days. I was never much of a climber...

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

We live on the edge of The Lakes, near Morecambe. We have five miles of flat promenade designated as a cycle path. I try to venture inland two or three times a week towards The Pennines without becoming too seriously involved with them. I give my serious bike the occasional pat before hopping on the hybrid.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

My roadbike only goes out when the weather is sunny and perfectly calm and I'm fit enough to ride it! I think I took it out four times this year...

Oh, is your cycle track the infamous one that was in Cycling Weekly last week? It was a steel gate across it which merges with the background - someone cycled into it a few weeks back and ended up in hospital...

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

Hi I think that particular cycle track is the one near Levens to the north of Morecambe Bay. I recollect reading in one of the cycling magazines that the locals were using it as a short cut for their cars and that feelings were becoming heated. Our track runs along the promenade from Heysham to Hest Bank. About five miles long and dead flat. The only obstructions are pedestrians and the prevailing south-westerlies. We are very spoiled in that we can branch off quite easily to get on to the towpath of the Lancaster canal and follow a loop which allows us to pick up another cycle track on the far side of Lancaster. It is possible for us to make a completely traffic-free loop of about thirty miles.

[cathain.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. You don't know me :) I was recommended your public LJ for the beauty of the photos. Their judgement was well stated. I wanted to ask; is it possible the "tablets" are actually the stations of the Cross?

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Hello! Lovely to hear from you! I'm glad you like the photos - I keep bewailing the abilities of my camera because I'm frustrated by how much it hates trying to take photographs for me!

I'm pretty sure they are the stations of the Cross. I stumbled across another one in the north transept - can't actually remember what the scene was, but I remember seeing a series of the Stations of the Cross in Brugges and the content was very similar. I don't think the set's complete, so maybe they don't want to make the link - they were just described as '14th century alabaster tablets' in the guidebook...

I was going to ask one of the friendly officials, but didn't want to sound like a complete dimwit!

[red-trillium.livejournal.com]

These are beautiful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

[medievalmuse.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for sharing the images and information. I love the knight effigy and...medieval paintings? *head swivels*

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Haven't got any photos, I'm afraid. I completely missed them...

But to make up for it, I'll post some pictures of St Thomas's in Salisbury at a future date. Now that's got the medieval wall paintings to end all wall paintings!

[medievalmuse.livejournal.com]

Look forward to St. Thomas imagery. I've been to Salisbury Cathedral once - amazing place!