In Romsey Abbey

[steepholm]

I was in Romsey Abbey with my daughter today, and thought I'd try out my phone-cam again.

I was born and brought up in Romsey, and have been in the Abbey thousands of times, yet until today I never even noticed this...



Yes, there really was a man called Savage Beare! Surely poor Elizabeth must have been nervous about marrying him? [ETA: Google reveals that on Monday 6th July 1818, The Salisbury and Winchester Journal reported that "On Tuesday last was married, at Hursley, by the Rev.John Marsh, Mr.Wm.Bailey, of the Parsonage, to Ann Laetitia, only daughter of the late Mr.Savage Beare." Elizabeth Beare's daughter? Who knows?]



The St Barbe monument, by contrast, is one I've always known and loved...



...especially the four little boy mourners.




Here's the straight-on view down the nave...





... but I prefer it with a hint of Escher.



And outside, there's a life-size Anglo-Norman relief of Christ, with God's hand coming down out of what is meant to be a cloud, I think, but which I always saw when I was little as a really lacy sleeve. Unfortunately that's been cut off by the shot, but God's hand is plain to see, and in a suspiciously good state of preservation, even for God. Or is it that Christ's face got mutilated, rather? Certainly the parliamentarians took a few pot shots at the south side of the Abbey (this is the north), where the musket holes are still to be seen.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I love these shots. (And I have a decided interest in marks and graffiti that are centuries old.)

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I was just having a conversation with friends about cruel names. Savage Beare is a great example!

There's something else strange about that God hand carving, but I can't place what it is. It's something about the way God's hand is shooting straight down towards Christ's head.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

What strikes me, looking at the photo, is the shape of his thumb - like a horse's hind leg! There's something about that that does seem familiar from medieval art. But I may be imagining it because I want to see it.