DOI Artikel:
Park, David: The paintings in St Gabriel’s Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.50505#0061
The Paintings in St Gabriel’s Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral
David Park
Nothing like it could be seen in England either for the light of
its glass windows, the gleaming of its marble pavements, or
the many-coloured paintings which led the wondering eye to
the panelled ceiling above.
Thus, in a famous passage, the twelfth-century chronicler
William of Malmesbury describes the early Romanesque choir
of Canterbury Cathedral, constructed between about 1095
and 1130.1 Unfortunately, nothing remains of the decoration
of this choir, which was rebuilt after a great fire in 1174. The
Cathedral does still possess, however, three major survivals
of Romanesque wall painting: in St Anselm’s Chapel, which
opens off the south side of the choir, and two schemes in St
Gabriel’s Chapel, which is located in the crypt directly beneath
St Anselm’s Chapel.
Only a small amount of painting exists in the upper chapel -
a rare scene of St Paul and the Viper, with some adjoining
decoration (fig. 1) - but it is of superlative quality, and has
recently been the subject of an intensive technical examination
and a conservation programme by the Canterbury Cathedral
Wallpaintings Workshop.2 The remains of painting in St Ga-
briel’s Chapel are far more extensive (figs. 2-10), and these
are now being studied as part of a research project on Ro-
manesque wall paintings. This work at Canterbury is being
undertaken by the Course in the Conservation of Wall Painting
(a joint venture of the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Getty
Conservation Institute) in collaboration with the Cathedral’s
Wallpaintings Workshop (Wolfgang Gärtner, Director).
The St Gabriel’s paintings form an ideal subject for study as
part of this project. Not only are they amongst the most
important surviving paintings in England from the Ro-
manesque period, but it is clear that they can furnish a great
deal of evidence as to the painting techniques employed at
this time, evidence which has so far been insufficiently tapped.
For instance, the supporting layers on which the main area
of painting is executed have never been carefully studied or
documented, a considerable amount of the preliminary draw-
ing is visible, and little recent analysis has been undertaken
of the rich and varied palette of the painting. The conservation
history of the paintings is also very complex, with some of
the painting havings been covered with later layers of decora-
tion, the use of wax and other materials in previous conserva-
tion treatments, the fairly recent detachment of sections of
the paintings and their replacement in situ on a new plaster
ground, and continuing problems of flaking paint and insuffici-
ently understood environmental conditions.
The study of the paintings as part of the research project is
also peculiarly appropriate in view of their probable German
links. The building and decoration of the early Romanesque
Cathedral was completed during the priorate of Conrad
(1109-1126), whose name suggests that he was a German,
and architecturally the crypt itself, in which the St Gabriel’s
paintings are located, shows the influence of such great Ger-
man hall crypts as that of Speyer Cathedral. Indeed, it has
been argued recently that the two very unusual angled radiat-
ing chapels of the crypt, of which St Gabriel’s is one, were
directly derived from the plan of St Maria im Kapitol in Cologne
(consecrated in 1049).3 The paintings themselves show close
similarities with Romanesque art in Germany such as the
metalwork of Roger of Helmarshausen, and it has been in-
creasingly recognised in recent years that north German in-
fluences may have played a crucial role in the development
of this style in England in the early years of the twelfth century.4
If this were indeed the case, the particularly striking similarities
in style and palette between the apse paintings of St Gabriel’s
Chapel and the wall painting of Idensen, near Hannover, would
be readily explicable.
Doubtlessly the current study will help to resolve some of
these controversial points, with significant implications for an
understanding of the development of Romanesque painting
in northern Europe. It will also advance knowledge of the
original techniques and of the conservation problems of Ro-
manesque wall paintings, and make a fundamental contribu-
tion to the long-term preservation of these particular, highly
important paintings at Canterbury.
1 St Anselm’s Chapel: St. Paul and the viper.
59
David Park
Nothing like it could be seen in England either for the light of
its glass windows, the gleaming of its marble pavements, or
the many-coloured paintings which led the wondering eye to
the panelled ceiling above.
Thus, in a famous passage, the twelfth-century chronicler
William of Malmesbury describes the early Romanesque choir
of Canterbury Cathedral, constructed between about 1095
and 1130.1 Unfortunately, nothing remains of the decoration
of this choir, which was rebuilt after a great fire in 1174. The
Cathedral does still possess, however, three major survivals
of Romanesque wall painting: in St Anselm’s Chapel, which
opens off the south side of the choir, and two schemes in St
Gabriel’s Chapel, which is located in the crypt directly beneath
St Anselm’s Chapel.
Only a small amount of painting exists in the upper chapel -
a rare scene of St Paul and the Viper, with some adjoining
decoration (fig. 1) - but it is of superlative quality, and has
recently been the subject of an intensive technical examination
and a conservation programme by the Canterbury Cathedral
Wallpaintings Workshop.2 The remains of painting in St Ga-
briel’s Chapel are far more extensive (figs. 2-10), and these
are now being studied as part of a research project on Ro-
manesque wall paintings. This work at Canterbury is being
undertaken by the Course in the Conservation of Wall Painting
(a joint venture of the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Getty
Conservation Institute) in collaboration with the Cathedral’s
Wallpaintings Workshop (Wolfgang Gärtner, Director).
The St Gabriel’s paintings form an ideal subject for study as
part of this project. Not only are they amongst the most
important surviving paintings in England from the Ro-
manesque period, but it is clear that they can furnish a great
deal of evidence as to the painting techniques employed at
this time, evidence which has so far been insufficiently tapped.
For instance, the supporting layers on which the main area
of painting is executed have never been carefully studied or
documented, a considerable amount of the preliminary draw-
ing is visible, and little recent analysis has been undertaken
of the rich and varied palette of the painting. The conservation
history of the paintings is also very complex, with some of
the painting havings been covered with later layers of decora-
tion, the use of wax and other materials in previous conserva-
tion treatments, the fairly recent detachment of sections of
the paintings and their replacement in situ on a new plaster
ground, and continuing problems of flaking paint and insuffici-
ently understood environmental conditions.
The study of the paintings as part of the research project is
also peculiarly appropriate in view of their probable German
links. The building and decoration of the early Romanesque
Cathedral was completed during the priorate of Conrad
(1109-1126), whose name suggests that he was a German,
and architecturally the crypt itself, in which the St Gabriel’s
paintings are located, shows the influence of such great Ger-
man hall crypts as that of Speyer Cathedral. Indeed, it has
been argued recently that the two very unusual angled radiat-
ing chapels of the crypt, of which St Gabriel’s is one, were
directly derived from the plan of St Maria im Kapitol in Cologne
(consecrated in 1049).3 The paintings themselves show close
similarities with Romanesque art in Germany such as the
metalwork of Roger of Helmarshausen, and it has been in-
creasingly recognised in recent years that north German in-
fluences may have played a crucial role in the development
of this style in England in the early years of the twelfth century.4
If this were indeed the case, the particularly striking similarities
in style and palette between the apse paintings of St Gabriel’s
Chapel and the wall painting of Idensen, near Hannover, would
be readily explicable.
Doubtlessly the current study will help to resolve some of
these controversial points, with significant implications for an
understanding of the development of Romanesque painting
in northern Europe. It will also advance knowledge of the
original techniques and of the conservation problems of Ro-
manesque wall paintings, and make a fundamental contribu-
tion to the long-term preservation of these particular, highly
important paintings at Canterbury.
1 St Anselm’s Chapel: St. Paul and the viper.
59