DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22423#0445
Letter XXXII. ATTLEBOKOUGH CHUECH,
433
pointing to himself. Near him, on a table, are books. The lady
is also in black, with a broad-brimmed hat, which throws a very
transparently-treated shadow on her face ; her left hand, which
rests on her person, is the least successful. These pictures are
distinguished from many by the master for their very simple
and unpretending ^conception. They are also more carefully exe-
cuted in the light, clear flesh-tones which were peculiar to him at
this time. They came into the possession of the present owner
by inheritance, and are admirably preserved.
A visit that we paid on the same occasion to the church at
Attleborough was exceedingly interesting to me. It contains,
namely, the remains of a painted screen which, according to a
custom prevalent in Norfolk, and perhaps in all England, originally
decorated the partition dividing the presbytery from the church—-
the same place which is occupied by the Iconostasis in Russian
churches. It is now placed on the inner side of the west wall of
the church, where the chief entrance is, and occupies the whole
breadth of it. Woodwork of rich Gothic architecture of a late
period divides the screen into a series of compartments, each of
which originally contained a full-length figure of a saint, some-
times accompanied by angels, with an elegant canopy. Only six
of these are preserved, and these are in a very ruined condition.
The most distinguishable are John the Baptist and St. Bartholo-
mew. The heads show partly that ideal form which had obtained
about 1350, and partly the realistic aim at a more decided indi-
viduality. The angels belong to the first style—the saints to the
last. The garments are richly decorated, the grounds coloured,
with patterns. Judging from the whole style of art, and from the
character of the writing beneath, I am inclined to fix the date at
about 1440. From Sir John Boileau I understood that tradition
assigned this and other similarly-painted screens in Norfolk to one
Peter Fleming. If this name be indicative of an English artist
who may have acquired his art in Flanders, it at all events shows
the influence of the Netherlands, which, as already remarked, are
particularly accessible from Norfolk.
On the following day I paid a visit to AVolverton, the seat of
the Earl of Orford. This nobleman, who has considerably enriched
the collection with fine specimens of rare masters of the Italian
school of the 15th and 16th centuries, and with an admirable pic-
ture of the old German school, was absent from Wolverton, but a
vol. iii. 2 f
433
pointing to himself. Near him, on a table, are books. The lady
is also in black, with a broad-brimmed hat, which throws a very
transparently-treated shadow on her face ; her left hand, which
rests on her person, is the least successful. These pictures are
distinguished from many by the master for their very simple
and unpretending ^conception. They are also more carefully exe-
cuted in the light, clear flesh-tones which were peculiar to him at
this time. They came into the possession of the present owner
by inheritance, and are admirably preserved.
A visit that we paid on the same occasion to the church at
Attleborough was exceedingly interesting to me. It contains,
namely, the remains of a painted screen which, according to a
custom prevalent in Norfolk, and perhaps in all England, originally
decorated the partition dividing the presbytery from the church—-
the same place which is occupied by the Iconostasis in Russian
churches. It is now placed on the inner side of the west wall of
the church, where the chief entrance is, and occupies the whole
breadth of it. Woodwork of rich Gothic architecture of a late
period divides the screen into a series of compartments, each of
which originally contained a full-length figure of a saint, some-
times accompanied by angels, with an elegant canopy. Only six
of these are preserved, and these are in a very ruined condition.
The most distinguishable are John the Baptist and St. Bartholo-
mew. The heads show partly that ideal form which had obtained
about 1350, and partly the realistic aim at a more decided indi-
viduality. The angels belong to the first style—the saints to the
last. The garments are richly decorated, the grounds coloured,
with patterns. Judging from the whole style of art, and from the
character of the writing beneath, I am inclined to fix the date at
about 1440. From Sir John Boileau I understood that tradition
assigned this and other similarly-painted screens in Norfolk to one
Peter Fleming. If this name be indicative of an English artist
who may have acquired his art in Flanders, it at all events shows
the influence of the Netherlands, which, as already remarked, are
particularly accessible from Norfolk.
On the following day I paid a visit to AVolverton, the seat of
the Earl of Orford. This nobleman, who has considerably enriched
the collection with fine specimens of rare masters of the Italian
school of the 15th and 16th centuries, and with an admirable pic-
ture of the old German school, was absent from Wolverton, but a
vol. iii. 2 f