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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 July 2011
No account of the hundred and fifty roof bosses in the transepts has yet been put on record in print, though they present some peculiar features. The stone vaulting in the transepts was erected under Bishop Nykke after a fire in 1509. The vaulting of the cloisters and of the nave, with their series of sculptured bosses, had already been completed, and as the Provost of Eton says, the bishop ‘was rather put to it to find a satisfactory scheme for the transept bosses. He must have decided to supplement the New Testament portion of Lyhart's work, by filling up gaps in the life of the Virgin and of Christ. But he was not fortunate in his designer, or in his clerk of works. The former had very little invention, and did not care how often he repeated his subject, whilst the latter took no pains whatever to get the bosses put up in a rational order. Nor does the execution of the carving reflect credit on any one. The whole work, in fact, gives the impression of haste and carelessness’. The repetitions are numerous; the Flight into Egypt occurs eight times ; the angel appearing to St. Joseph nine times; the Nativity three times, and there are many other repetitions. But though many of the bosses do indeed show signs of haste and carelessness there are some that are very charming little carvings.
page 45 note 1 The Thirteen Hundredth Anniversary of the Diocese of East Anglia. Official Handbook, p. 60.
page 46 note 1 In the Municipal Library, Norwich.
page 47 note 1 Following Dr. Bensly the bosses are numbered as follows: N.Tr. or S.Tr. for north or south transept, C, E, or W according to whether the boss is on the central, the east, or the west line, and a number which shows the position on the line; the numbers begin with I at the central tower and end with 25 at the north and south ends of the transepts.
page 48 note 1 See also Viollet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire raisonée de l'Architecture, iii, pp. 267 et seq.
page 51 note 1 See Introduction.
page 52 note 1 This cannot be seen in my photograph but is described by Bensly.
page 54 note 1 I follow Bensly, no wings being visible in my photograph.
page 56 note 1 Not visible in my photograph but mentioned by Bensly.
page 59 note 1 The thatch and the star are hardly visible in the photograph.
page 59 note 2 Bensly thought the angel was God the Father; to my mind it is certainly an angel; Gabriel is shown with a sceptre in several bosses. Bensly did not realize that two scenes are depicted; the figure I call St. Joseph taking the hand of our Lady he leaves unnamed, and says he is kneeling and kissing the Virgin's hand; the appearance of kneeling is caused, I think, by faulty perspective in the design.
page 60 note 1 I think this is the circumcision of St. John the Baptist; the woman who places the child on the altar is dressed differently from our Lady in other bosses; in particular she has an ermine hem; the High Priest is exactly like Zacharias in N. Tr. C 25.
page 60 note 2 This has been described as St. Joseph taking to him Mary his wife, but the figure is distinguished from St. Joseph in the other bosses by his head-dress, by the absence of a staff, and by the ringlets of hair. Several of the surrounding bosses deal with Zacharias.
page 61 note 1 Bensly's notes; not visible in my photograph.
page 63 note 1 Some of the details of St. Joseph's figure and the star are not visible in the photograph.
page 64 note 1 Bensly says there is another figure following the Virgin.
page 64 note 2 I think this must be the explanation of this boss; Bensly thought the figure on the dexter was God the Father, but I think the wallet on the waist-band negatives this; he says the figure is crowned but I can see no sign of this. The subject has also been called the Conception but I know of no other instance of this subject apart from the Annunciation. Moreover, in this boss our Lady is represented as in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
page 64 note 3 Bensly says that above in clouds and golden rays is God the Father crowned and holding a golden orb in one hand and blessing with the other; this is not visible in my photograph.