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wears a collar of suns and roses, pauldrons, elbow-pieces, and gauntlets composed of a single plate, at the extremities of which the fingers are visible; three taces, to which tuilles are attached; the tuilles genouillières and sollerets are pointed; a large sword is suspended diagonally in front of his legs; his head rests upon a tilting helmet. This brass is engraved in Boutell, and lies in the choir.

Circa 1480. St. Alban's Abbey. A monk, wearing a vestment shaped like a surplice. This brass is loose, and is kept in abbot Wheathampstead's chapel.

1482. Stoke Charity, Hants. Thomas Wayte, esq., in armour; from his mouth proceeds a scroll, inscribed "Ihu fili dei miserere mei”, addressed to a figure of our Saviour rising from the tomb. Beneath the figure is the following inscription: "Hic jacet Thomas Wayte armiger q obiit xo die Aplis Ao Dni m° cccc lxxxiio cui' aie ppiciet' de' Amen."

Stoke Charity, Hants. Thomas Hampton, esq., in armour, and Isabella his wife. The feet of Thomas Hampton rest on a greyhound; from his mouth proceeds a scroll, inscribed "Pat' de Celis de' miserere Nobis"; from the mouth of the wife proceeds a scroll, inscribed "Sca Trinitas un. de. misere. nobis", addressed to a representation of the Holy Trinity above the figures; beneath are figures of two sons and six daughters.

1521. St. Alban's Abbey. Thos. Rutland, sub-prior; this figure is vested like those before-mentioned. This brass is loose in abbot Wheathampstead's chapel, having been removed from the south transept, where the marginal inscription still is concealed by pews.

Captain Shortt, of Heavitree, Exeter, forwarded some "Notes of a visit to Berry Castle and Sidbury Castle, the latter supposed to be the Tidortis or Tidertis of the anonymous Ravennas in the county of Devon".

Mr. Gould exhibited a very beautiful reliquary, carved in morse ivory. ‹~ It is of elegant design and excellent workmanship, and is represented on plate 22, which gives the entire of the box as shown on the front, back, and sides. Its history is unknown, it having been found among a quantity of other things, without any particulars attached to them. On one face (fig. 1) are represented the Holy Lamb and the symbols of the four evangelists, contained within arches. The whole is in arabesque work, including the representation of different animals (see figs. 2, 3, 4), similar to what is commonly seen upon fonts and drawings of the early part of the twelfth century, to which period this box must be assigned. It is remarkable and worthy of notice, that the Norwegian peasants at the present day are in the practice of ornamenting their knife handles with designs of a similar character. It is likely that this reliquary was employed to contain a portion of what was esteemed to be the holy

cross.

Mr. Thos. Carlyle, of Albury, communicated to the Association, through Mr. Pettigrew, the following short account of the only church in

VOL. X.

21

Berlin which presents objects of interest to the archæologist,—the church of the Grey Friars in the Kloster Strasse :

"After being long, although used for public worship, in a state of the most shameful dilapidation, this Gothic church, a structure of brick, was some years ago very beautifully restored by the present king. But as some of its ancient features necessarily disappeared in its renovation, it is worth while to preserve its reminiscences by the help of descriptions given before that event.

"The mendicant Franciscan or Minorite order owes its rise, in 1210, to St. Francis of Assisi; and, in spite of the contempt with which the proposals of its founder were at first received by Innocent III, grew so rapidly, that in 1219 above five thousand deputies from its various religious houses were present at Assisi.

"The dissensions which arose during the life of St. Francis so increased after his death, in 1226, as to give rise to thirty different sections of the order, varying, among other things, in the severity of their rules. One of their punishments, which they performed on the ground of humanity, because" ecclesia non sitit sanguinem", was the building up the refractory in a vault. This mode of death got the name of "In pace", from the parting words, "In pace requiescat", with which the victim was left by those who built him up.

"The Franciscans were already, as a body, established before 1250 in Berlin, or rather in the ancient town of Köln, on the river Spree, now embraced in that modern capital. The monastery, and probably the church also, was built in 1271, and restored at different periods. The former was not expressly abolished at the Reformation; but it gradually decayed, till the last monk died in 1571. In that year the building became the abode of the celebrated Leonhard Thurneissen zum Thurn, who, born at Basle in 1530, became, after many wanderings and adventures, physician to the elector of Brandenburg, distinguished himself in the prosecution of science, especially of alchemy, and ultimately died, a disgraced exile, as it is supposed, in Italy or Cologne. The monastery afterwards became a gymnasium. The church is used to the present day.

"The church, composed of chancel, nave, and two nave aisles, is one hundred and sixty-six feet long, sixty-six broad, and fifty high. The chancel, much narrower than the nave and its aisles, thirty-five or forty feet long, and concluded by an apse (it is believed of ten sides), has an altar in the apse, but has probably had also side altars. It contained fifty stalls for the monks. At a considerable height above these ran two inscriptions of the fifteenth century, all round the choir. The upper one, divided into thirty-two sections, and coloured red and black, began at the north side, and described the extent and other particulars of the order. The lower one consisted of one line, seventy-two feet long, in

black letters only, and gave the year of foundation, the names of the founders, and the sum of the provisions and houses of the order throughout the world. The pillars and galleries of the nave are also full of inscriptions, which however possess only local interest.

"On the south or right side of the altar are two tableaux of painting on wood, each divided into two parts, and containing pictures of the apostles. Eleven are there, with their appropriate symbols: such as the cup, sword, club, saw, staff with cross, keys, pilgrim's staff with beads, staff with blade or banner, axe, lance, and double blade-like scissars. St. Francis himself occupies the place of Judas. His picture is instructive as to the vestments of the time. He wears the long brown-grey monastic coat, without opening at the sides or breast, and drawn on over the head; the mozette or umula under the chin, and the half-moon like collar, to which the brown grey hood is attached behind. Being no priest he wears no scapular; instead of a girdle, he wears a knotted rope reaching down to the shin; he has no rosary; his sandals are bound with a strap on his bare feet; he holds a crucifix in his right hand, and has the five wounds on his person, a hole being cut in his garment to show that in his side; he has the greater tonsure and a glory. "The other pictures are the birth of Christ; the visit of the magi; a young man (supposed a Hohenlohe, 1412) at the feet of the scourged and bleeding Christ; all on the right hand. Then on the left, first a large picture of Christ on the cross, surrounded by the most notable of the order down to the fourteenth century (the date of the picture?), with their names on white stripes: St. Francis himself stands under Christ, receiving into his five wounds the blood from those of Christ, with an inscription under him from Rev. vii, as to the angel and the sealed ones, which the order apply to him and themselves; besides his name there are, on the right, Jacobus, Nicolaus, Monaldus, Andreas, Bonaventura, Adulphus, Petrus, Silvester, Johannes, Johannes (de Capistrano?); on the left, Antonius (of Padua ?), Richardus, Antonius, Franciscus (Pecinus?), Bernhardus, Philippus, Ludovicus, Rogerius, Conradus, Badius (or Bandinus); Helius and Cœlestinus, the followers of St. Francis, seem to have been excluded on account of their laxity. The picture is probably unique. Then comes a picture in two halves: the upper, Christ scourged; the under, Christ bearing his cross. Then a standing Mary with Jesus. Then, nearer the altar, the taking down from the cross; and then four saints. The taking down is painted with oil, on a chalk ground, on linen glued to the wood. Among the angels above the group one holds the lance, the other the reed and sponge. Below are instruments of crucifixion.

"The pictures on wood in the nave and gallery deserve no remark. The more modern altar-piece, presents Luther between our Lord and John at the supper, holding a Bible, to which he points.

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