This is an illustration from a medieval manuscript of Wales' Conwy Castle, built between 1283 and 1289. It depicts the castle as painted white, unlike how it looks today:
The manuscript illustration is in fact an accurate depiction of the castle. When i was 15 i went on school trip there with my history class for a piece of coursework that we had to complete, and bought the guide book. This is what it says regarding the whitewash:
Evidence for this white covering (a lime render) can be seen in many places around the castle...Although functional as a waterproofing agent, this type of decoration, known on numerouos contemporary castles and most famously the White Tower of the Tower of London, would have completely altered the appearance of Conwy. Were we to imagine the castle with gleaming white walls, heraldic banners, painted window shutters and shields hanging from the battlements, the present gaunt and intimidating exterior would turn into something recognizable from an illuminated medieval manuscript.
The other day, i watched a repeat of David Dimbleby's 'Seven Ages of Britain' (i watched it the first time and loved it) and he was talking about the monument (see above) that Edward I built for his deceased wife, Eleanor of Castile, which is one of 12 that he had built on the funeral procession route down to London in 1890. This is the most well preserved of the twelve, and Dimbleby describes how it, like Conwy Castle, used to have a much more colourful appearance:
We're used to seeing old monuments eroded by time, we love them for it - for this golden colour, for the feeling of something that's stood here for centuries. It's difficult to think what they were like when they were first put up, they weren't like this at all. This monument would have been painted in positively garish colours, probably with gilding, and certainly set with pieces of glass. It was a kind of striking image - nothing like what it looks now. Beautifully done, with all these flowers and leaves, and the three statues of Eleanor herself facing the three roads that come into the village. It's striking how similar the statue of Eleanor is to a statue of the Virgin Mary, and that's no coincidence - it fits in with the medieval idea of woman, the perfect woman, pure and chaste. The woman as mother, the woman, literally, put on a pedestal; out of reach.
It reminded me of the first episode of the series Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture that was shown on the BBC recently as part of their sculpture season. In it, they use special effects to give an idea of what Wells Cathedral would have looked like when it was built. So instead of looking like this:
It would have looked something like this. The two towers are missing in the second image because they weren't built until the late 1300s, whereas the rest of it was completed in 1240.
Cathedrals were the art galleries of the day. Wells cathedral is still a place of pilgrimage for art lovers in the 21st century. The west front is the most extraordinary display of sculpture in Britain. 150 ft across; twice as wide as it is high. It has been compared to a cliff face and called a phenomenon of nature. Hundreds of figures still survive: Adam and Eve leave paradise, Noah builds his ark. There are Anglo Saxon martyr kings and plain ordinary folk rising from the dead to be greeted by the risen Christ. Beneath him are the apostles, with Saint Andrew, the dedication saint of Wells in the centre. Together, they are an epic in stone which tells no less than the entire history of the universe, tumpeting the triumph of the Christian church and the limitless power of God. Largely completed in 1240, the west front is completed in the Gothic style, though the two towers weren't even begun until late in the following century, so it looked even more like a vast display cabinet for all the sculptures.
To add to the spectacle, galleries were built high up in the cathedral for when a procession took place. Choir boys and men would sing through holes in the wall, and on another level trumpets would be sounded. All this was designed to look like the statues themselves were making to music. This is the presenter in one of the galleries:
I suppose the medieval world was alot more colourful that we sometimes imagine! Well anyway, i'd better go to bed now, i've been having way too many super late nights recently...
Lots of love
Lucy
x
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