Tony Money (1934) - Radley College

Tony Money (1934)
THE RADLEY
ALTARPIECE
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The radley chapel altarpiece is a
Retable, which stands free, either on
the back of the altar or, as at Radley,
on a pedestal behind it. In contrast, a
Reredos is fixed to the wall behind the
altar and rises from ground level.
An altarpiece draws attention to an
altar, and it also adorns it; but its essential
liturgical function, pronounced by various
synods from the 9th Century onward, is
as a label to identify the saint to whom the
altar is dedicated. Early on this was done
by a silk-hanging or a wall-painting above
the altar. The retable probably developed
from these. It was a painted or carved
panel (retro-tabularium = panel behind),
sometimes in triptych form, which
originally hung above the altar. A statue or
an inscription were other permitted ways
of identifying the saint.
The altar symbolises Christ himself,
his wounds represented by the five crosses
carved in the medieval mensa (stone altartop,
of which not many survive in place).
It is also, as St. Paul says, ‘The Table of
the Lord’, signifying the Lord’s Supper or
Eucharist. Thus in the early Church only
the sacramental vessels might be set upon
the altar. In the 9th Century however
a reliquary (a decorated receptacle for
a martyr’s bones or other holy relics)
was permitted on side altars; and by the
end of the 11th Century it had become
customary for a retable to be placed there,
perhaps as a substitute for a reliquary. But
this was still only possible for side altars,
since at that time a priest stood behind
the high altar, facing the congregation,
and a retable there would have blocked
their view of the host. By the 13th Century
all the clergy stood in front of the high
altar, with their backs turned on the
congregation. As a result of this change
of position a retable could now be placed
on the high altar too. By the 15th Century
an altar retable or reredos, or sometimes
both, was almost universal.
Medieval retables depicted scenes
from Christ’s Passion, the Life of the
Virgin together with the Infancy of Jesus,
or incidents from the life of the Saint or
Martyr to whom the altar was dedicated.
The form of retables and their materials
varied. The earliest carved ones were
small and fashioned in low relief on a
wooden core covered with gold-leaf, silver
or gilded copper, and ornamented with
enamel and cabochons (polished but uncut
precious stones). That they were made
from valuable materials explains why so
few have survived. One of these is the
Pala d’Oro (Golden Panel) in St. Mark’s,
Venice. Made of gold in Constantinople
in the 10th Century it shows Christ in
Majesty, and also identifies the high altar
with scenes from the life of St. Mark. A
very few altarpieces survive from the 12th
Century, carved in stone, a less expensive
material. In the 13th Century retables in
flat paintings on wooden panels became
popular in Italy; they always remained
so there in preference to carvings. From
the 14th Century in Germany and the
Low Countries retables were carved in
wood, which was then gilded and painted
(polychromed). They were encased in a
wooden frame to protect the carvings,
and they were provided with painted
shutters which could enclose them
completely and which were only opened
on special occasions. Some of these
shuttered wooden retables were also
produced in northern France, but in the
rest of the country stone was the chosen
material. In Spain there are some very
large and elaborate altarpieces which
incorporate paintings and carvings in
both wood and stone, as at Burgos.
In England in the 14th Century
a special form of stone reredos was
developed. Carved in numerous niches for
figures of Christ and the saints, it covers
the entire wall behind the altar, blocking
out the view beyond. Restored examples
of this architectural form of reredos can
be seen at Magdalen, All Souls and New
College, Oxford, where the Chapel backs
on to the Hall. Similar but free-standing
walls of stone are the screens in large
monastic churches, such as Winchester,
Durham and St. Albans, which rise
behind the nave altar, obscuring the view
to the east window. They are no longer
painted and gilded as once they were.
Also dating from the 14th Century
and more widespread were English
alabaster retables, then known as ‘tables’.
They were made from the soft stone first
quarried at Chellaston in Derbyshire,
and carved by craftsmen in Derby and
Nottingham. Like the contemporary
wooden retables of the Low Countries
they consisted of carved groups of
(alabaster) figures in a wooden frame of
compartments; and probably like them,
they were painted and gilded and had
shutters. But they were very much smaller.
This may be because in the English
parish church the east chancel window
is abnormally large, leaving only a few
feet above the altar for an altarpiece. In
effect the stained glass window with its
Passion scene is the parochial altarpiece,
and retables were probably more common
on side altars at the east end of aisles and
transepts where the windows are usually
smaller. The alabaster retable industry,
centred on Nottingham, exported large
numbers of carved panels and triptychs as
well as blocks of alabaster, to the Continent,
to France in particular. Today many
examples of these alabaster retables are
found in churches and museums abroad,
from Italy to Iceland. But in England itself
few survive. In the 16th Century the Tudors
appropriated the early retables for their
precious materials; a century later these
alabaster ‘tables’ were destroyed by Puritan
iconoclasts. One survivor is in the church
at Yarnton in Oxfordshire. There is also a
substantial collection of pieces at the V &
A.
During the Renaissance sculpture
became overshadowed by painting, except
in Germany, with oil on canvas eventually
replacing the original tempera on wooden
panels of earlier painted triptychs. But
the production of carved wooden retables
continued in northern Europe until the
mid-16th Century. It ceased when the
Council of Trent (Trento) introduced
regulations on church decoration. The
tabernacle exposing the host for veneration
became the most important as well as the
largest object on the Catholic high altar,
precluding the placing of a retable there.
With the development of free-standing
altars retables have become extinct in
modern church furnishing.
Brabant Retables
The Radley altarpiece was made in
Antwerp about 1515. At that time the Low
Countries was the richest community in
Europe, and after Italy the most cultivated.
During the 15th Century, under the Dukes
of Burgundy, wealth had accumulated
from the trade and industry of the nearindependent
cities with their rising middle
class. At the same time the court of the
Duke at Brussels was the most splendid of
the age. These factors stimulated the arts
and crafts and accelerated the large scale
production of works of art. Antwerp on
the Scheldt replaced Bruges in Flanders
as the chief port of the region, and it
quickly became the leading commercial
centre of western Europe, profiting from
the beginnings of colonial trade after
the discoveries of the Portuguese and
Spaniards. It also became the leading centre
of international finance outside Italy.
For a hundred years from the mid-15th
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23

The Radley Altarpiece
’s-HERTOGENBOSCH (BOIS-LE-DUC), Netherlands
Passion Altarpiece, Antwerp c. 1510-1520. Similar in date and appearence to the Radley Altarpiece.
Iconography: Passion Cycle in upper register and on inside panels of wings; Childhood of Christ in bottom register;
This is how the Radley Altarpiece would have looked with its wings.
Closed during the week. Opened on Sundays and/or special days in the Church calendar.
to the mid-16th Century, workshops centred
on three cities of the Duchy of Brabant–
Antwerp, Brussels and Mechelen (Malines)
– produced carved wooden retables at an
extraordinary rate. They were not only
produced to order, but there was a supply
ready to meet the commercial demand.
Mr. Hans Nieuwdorp of the Mayer van den
Bergh Museum in Antwerp estimates that
retables were made at the rate of some three
hundred a year, with reproduction time
from start to finish being three months of
hard work. Of this potential output of some
thirty thousand retables between four and
five hundred only have survived, of which
three hundred are complete or nearly so;
those with their original shutters remaining
number not even a hundred. If these
estimates are correct the Radley altarpiece is
part of that one per cent of total production
that survives today more or less intact. Most
of these are of 16th rather than 15th century
origin.
Orders came principally from wealthy
patrons for cathedrals, abbeys, and
churches; but not just from the prelates.
From about 1480 lay brotherhoods,
city corporations and trade guilds
increasingly commissioned retables in
side chapels devoted to their body. In so
doing they reflected both the prosperity
and the piety of the time. In cathedrals
and large churches there would be
numerous such altars (at St. Gallen in
Switzerland there were seventy), where
masses were said for benefactors and the
repose of the faithful departed. Smaller
altarpieces were also made for private
devotion. The carving of single figures
was a speciality of Mechelen, situated half
way between Brussels and Antwerp. As a
centre of commerce Antwerp became the
market for Brussels and Mechelen as well,
and from its busy port Brabant retables
were exported as return cargo all over
Europe, but principally to Spain, northern
France, Germany and Scandinavia. There
is documentary evidence that Brabant
altarpieces were also exported to England
and Scotland, but none of these are now
traceable.
Germany too was famous for its
carved wooden retables. In the north
these, as in the Low Countries, were
made of oak or sometimes of walnut.
Lübeck was one of the main centres of
production, with an important export
trade around the Baltic. But southern
Germany has the broad-leafed lime. This
is of a softer wood, easier to carve than
oak, with so beautiful a surface that many
of these altarpieces were never gilded or
polychromed. Most of those surviving are
by a known master. In German retables
individual figures are large, filling their
compartment; in contrast to the Brabant
retables which are crowded with many
small figures.
Description
As can be seen in the Radley altarpiece,
a Brabant retable has a rectilinear case,
divided into three compartments, the
central one of which rises higher than
the others. At the end of the 15th and the
beginning of the 16th Century the top of
the retable evolved from the horizontal
line as in the Radley one, through a
variety of curves, to a continuous line
of accolades. The outline of the top is a
pointer towards the dating of the retable.
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The three compartments were normally,
in Antwerp workshops anyway, divided
horizontally into a larger upper and a
smaller lower space. Each of these spaces
was crowned by architectural decorations
in the form of curved tracery. Below was
a group of carved figures enacting part of
a continuous story. Wings (shutters) were
attached to the sides of the case. They
are missing in the Radley retable. Their
combined breadth equalled that of the
carved portion, producing a very wide
structure when open. In a large retable the
wings on each side would be divided into
two panels. The insides of the wings were
sometimes carved but were more often
painted. The outsides were always painted.
The origin of these north European
shuttered retables probably stems from
the reliquaries in which the bones of the
saint were presented behind locked doors.
When closed the retables resembled
these reliquaries, and they normally were
closed, concealing not bones but carvings,
although in some cases retables would
enclose reliquaries as well. Sometimes
there was a second pair of wings (shutters)
behind the inner one. This would provide
an intermediate stage between the
normal everyday closure and the display
of the carvings flanked by paintings
when the inner wings were opened. This
intermediate stage would show an entirely
painted polyptych made up of the inside
of the outer wings and the outside of
the inner ones. This would probably be
the Sunday show, while the display of
the inner carvings would be confined to
special periods during the Church year,
according to the narrative content. Apart
from their liturgical purpose, the shutters
provided security from northern damp
and cold
which could affect both wood and
polychromy, and also from candle-smoke,
dust and accidental damage.
These altarpieces have been called
‘The Bible of the Poor’. They were both
narrative and didactic. On them the
illiterate worshippers could recognise
stories they had heard and pick out
individuals mentioned in them. But the
veneration accorded to these images
was cause for concern, long before the
Reformation, among those in the Church
worried by the growth of image-worship
in defiance of the Commandment.
The interior sculpted groups told a
story which would often extend to the
interior painting of the wings. The story
would show the Passion Cycle, or the
Altarpiece closed showing Christ’s Ministry on outer panels of wings;
Wedding at Cana on left, Raising of Lazarus on right, Temptation of Christ on top.
Life of the Virgin, or of an individual
saint. A popular story was of St. Anne,
the mother of Mary. Incidents from
her life were based on the apocryphal
evangelists and other mystical writings.
The Passion Cycle is the most common
iconographical theme. To this are often
joined illustrations of the Infancy of Jesus,
which also tell of the life of the Virgin.
These Infancy illustrations are normally
shown in the smaller lower register, as in
the Radley altarpiece. (In contrast to later
religious art, in medieval imagery there
are few illustrations of Christ’s teaching,
such as the parables.)
The story represented begins most
often in the interior paintings of the left
wing, continues in the carvings contained
in the case from left to right, and finishes
on the interior paintings of the right wing,
and sometimes even on the outer side of
the wings. In some retables the inner side
of the wings tells a different story from
the carvings, possibly of the patron saint
of the church or altar. He or she usually
occupied a prominent position, sometimes
taking over the whole retable. Not all the
saints who featured were canonised. These
others were popular local saints, whose
legendary wonders and miracles on behalf
of those in sickness, plague or other need
were displayed in episodes in the retable.
On the exterior of the shutters, which was
the everyday view, traditional figures were
usually painted. These might be the patron
saint of the altar, the four evangelists,
or the four great Church teachers, St.
Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Hieronymus
and St. Gregory the Great. A very popular
theme was the miraculous Mass of St.
Gregory, which was a means whereby
believers, provided they recited the
requisite prayers, could win a substantial
number of years’ indulgence in Purgatory.
Manufacture
Many figures were sculpted individually,
but it was also usual for a group of figures
to be carved from the same piece of
wood. After they had been carved the
figures were gilded and polychromed,
as were the background furniture, the
architectural decoration at the top of each
compartment, and the outer case. The
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25

The Radley Altarpiece
Opitter, Belgium. Antwerp c. 1540 Passion Altarpiece
gold and colours were never painted on
the wood itself but always on a coating
of gesso (size and chalk). This was
mostly applied in several layers, so that
in some places the carver needed to put
the finishing touches to his work after
the gesso had been applied, in order to
recreate the finer details of his carving in
the gesso itself.
The Antwerp workshops tended to
use more gilding than those at Brussels
and Mechelen. Probably some 80% was
gilded. It was nearly all polished gold, i.e.
the gilder polished with a stone the gold
leaf he had applied to the surface. Matt
gold was employed, as were the colours, to
bring out the effect of the polished gold.
Only small amounts of silver were used,
mainly for armour and weapons. It was
protected by a varnish coating to prevent
its blackening with age. Colours used were
normally limited to red, blue, green, black
and white. Flesh was coloured naturally,
with female faces whiter and male darker;
hair too, though it was often golden. Other
colour was mainly used on the inside of
clothing where visible, red, blue and green.
The base of a scene, if out of doors, was
often green.
Polychromy provided not only colour
but also texture, and this was particularly
important in representing the many
different clothing surfaces – silk, satin,
velvet, damask, brocade etc. Gold leaf
was laid over the gesso surface and any
overlying colour gained richness and body
from the gold below. Glossy surfaces on
drapery were achieved by mixing oil or
resin with the paint. Weaves would be
indicated by striations. Patterns could
be modelled in the gesso, or painted,
punched or engraved on the polished gold.
The sgraffito method involved painting
a gold surface with red or blue, and then
with a sharp point revealing some of the
gold underneath in a decorative textile
design such as spiral, rosettes or letters.
A special technique of imitating Italian
brocade was to engrave a design on a
metal template, previously cut and shaped.
On this mould a mixture of beeswax
and resin, liquefied by heat, was applied.
When cooled, this skin was detached,
gilded, and painted before being applied
(appliqué) to the figure or furniture.
Finally facial features, beards, moustaches,
and particularly eyes needed to be painted
in with great care in order to bring to life
the carved figures.
The making of a retable engaged a
number of different craftsmen. Originally
these were three, the case-maker who
made the case and the shutters, the carver
who sculpted, and the painter who painted
the shutters and gilded and painted
the carvings. As production rose, more
specialisation occurred: between gilder
and painter, and between the figure carver
and the man who carved the architectural
decoration. In some workshops the three
crafts would work together under a
master; sometimes their workshops were
separate. When the figures and other
parts had been carved they were gilded
and painted. They were then finally fitted
26 t h e o l d r a d l e i a n 2 0 0 6

together in the case, in which they were
held by dowel pegs. The wings were
attached to the case by metal hinges after
an artist had completed the paintings
on them. The figures in these paintings
were larger than the carved figures; in
German retables, in contrast, they were
smaller. There were three separate guilds
for these varied professions at Brussels,
but at Antwerp the Guild of St. Luke,
the imagined artist of the Apostles, was
responsible for the whole work. This made
control easier and was one of the reasons
that the market of the Pand at Antwerp
also handled the Brussels production.
To maintain quality the guilds
were very strict in their control of the
materials used. Guild officials could enter
a workshop at any time to ensure that
regulations were being observed. Only
blocks of unblemished oak or walnut,
sawn perpendicularly to the diameter of
the tree, might be used. Only gold leaf
and pigments of the correct quality were
permitted. As a guarantee of quality of
material stamps were branded into the
bare wood. This is usual for precious
metals, but for wood to be marked in
this way is unique. The Antwerp stamp
was the open hand, derived from the city
arms, burnt into the bare wood. There are
many such hands visible on the Radley
altarpiece, either at the base of a group or
on top of a head. Each hand guarantees
the quality of the wood it is stamped on.
The Castle of Antwerp stamp guaranteed
the quality of the materials used in the
polychromy. This appeared on the outside
of the case, sometimes accompanied by
a double hand, which may have been
a guarantee for the gold leaf. Brussels
and Mechelen had their own particular
marks. These marks do not guarantee the
aesthetic quality of the work, merely the
quality of the materials used, and the city
of origin.
If it is of superior artistic quality an
expert can usually tell from the style alone
whether a retable come from Antwerp,
Brussels or Mechelen. Very few Mechelen
retables have survived. The Brussels
workshops produced the finest work
during the late Gothic period at the end of
the 15th Century.
By the time that Antwerp had
increased its production at the start of
the 16th Century the influence of the
Italian Renaissance, late in arriving in
northern Europe, was making itself
felt. Flemish copybooks of Renaissance
architectural motifs are widespread.
The opened altarpiece (left) is completely devoted to the story of the Passion.
The closed altarpiece (above) features scenes from Christ’s Ministry
This often resulted in a hybrid mixture
of Gothic and Classical ornamentation.
With the ending of the Middle Ages the
attitudes and expressions of the figures
are changing. Figures in early retables are
calm, reserved and spiritually moving, and
the composition is uncluttered. In the 16th
Century figures become more vehement,
bodies are twisted, dress is more secular,
and the composition is crowded and
restless. Some of this change can be seen
in the Radley altarpiece.
The great demand for retables both
in the Low Countries and abroad at the
turn of the 15th/16th Century led to a
thriving retable industry. Although the
standard of craftsmanship is high, the
artistic quality of these ‘commercial’ pieces
is naturally not so good as those made
for a special commission. The Radley
retable is one of those made for sale in
the market. It is typical of Antwerp work
of the period. Some figures are skimped
in that only what can be seen is carved.
It was a common practice, particularly
in ready-made work, not to carve what
was not visible. But the work of the 19th
century gilder, which obscures all flesh and
other colours, makes a proper appreciation
difficult.
Later History
If only 1% of some 30,000 altarpieces from
Brabant survive today, where are these to
be found, and what has happened to the
rest? Those surviving are most numerous
in northern Germany (over 100), and in
France and Sweden around Stockholm
(about 40 each). There are some in
Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria,
Denmark and Poland, and one or two
in Finland and the former Soviet Union.
There are also some 30 in Belgium itself.
This pattern relates to the Reformation.
Where Lutheranism prevailed the churches
remained undesecrated, although there
was no further demand for retables. Where
Calvinism or other Reformed Churches
gained supremacy, there was universal
iconoclasm and destruction of altarpieces.
t h e o l d r a d l e i a n 2 0 0 6
27

The Radley Altarpiece
The Rhineland is a region adjacent to
the Low Countries, so it was natural for
Brabant altarpieces to be in some demand
there, although there was a home-based
industry in the German style. At the
Reformation the Rhineland remained
mostly Catholic with some pockets of
Lutheranism. As a result there are many
Brabant retables to be found today in the
small villages west of Cologne between
the Rhine and the Meuse. In some
churches there are two or three. (Today
the churches are normally locked for
protection against robbers.) Further east,
northern Germany was solidly Lutheran
and many retables survive.
In Sweden the importation of north
German retables from Lübeck and
elsewhere gave way towards the end
of the 15th Century to imports from
Brabant. These continued steadily until
the 1520s when the Lutheran reform put
an end to them, as it did in Denmark.
The Swedish retables are among the
finest remaining today. Spain, Portugal
and Poland remained Catholic, and in
France the Huguenots were a minority,
so these countries suffered no loss at the
time, although France was much later to
undergo the destruction of the Revolution.
In the Low Countries itself the
Reformation was a disaster for the
industry. Antwerp became a centre
of Reforming activity. The wars of
religion and national revolt against the
Habsburgs caused widespread destruction
and iconoclasm. In a few days in 1566
hundreds of churches were desecrated
by the Calvinists. The sack of Antwerp
28 t h e o l d r a d l e i a n 2 0 0 6

y Spanish soldiers in 1576 caused
the massacre of 8,000 citizens. In 1585
Antwerp surrendered to the Spaniards to
remain faithful to the old religion. The
Scheldt was closed to shipping, the city’s
commercial importance was destroyed,
and within four years the population
diminished from 80,000 to 42,000. The
French Revolution completed what the
earlier iconoclasm had begun. Retables
are to be seen in Belgium today in a
number of churches and especially in the
Museum of Art and History at Brussels,
where retables of different styles and
dates can be compared.
In the now independent northern
Netherlands where capital and
enterprise had migrated from the south,
Calvinists and Anabaptists carried out
the destruction of idolatrous images
in the churches. There had been some
production of retables in Utrecht,
Breda and other Dutch cities, but today
only three or four of these survive in
the whole of the Low Countries. The
same story of destruction is true of the
Upper Rhine and Switzerland, where the
Reformed Churches held sway.
In the years since the Reformation,
wars, revolution, fires, neglect and a
change in taste have brought about
the destruction of many more of these
carved altarpieces. Of those remaining
today about 80% date from the period
1490 to 1530; only 10% are from the
beginning, about 1390 up to 1490; and
10% from 1530 to the end, about 1560.
The Radley Altarpiece
The Neo-Gothic Revival started in
England, and enthusiasm for things
Gothic led to the importation of much
ecclesiastical furniture in the first
part of the 19th Century. The Revd.
William Sewell in founding St. Peter’s
College, Radley in 1847 had as one of
his aims the inspiration of the boys by
surrounding them with beautiful things.
The Chapel, as the central point of
the school, was filled with much old
and some new Gothic furniture which
Sewell bought from London dealers or
had made in Gloucester and Oxford. In
1847, just before Radley College’s first
term Sewell bought the Altarpiece from
Samuel Luke Pratt for £190. Pratt was
‘cabinet maker, upholsterer and importer
of ancient furniture, armour etc.’, whose
shop was at 147 New Bond Street,
London. However, the Revd. Robert
Singleton, co-founder and first Warden
wrote in his Diary: ‘It is very fine indeed
in its way; but it is quite too graphic to
be reverent, and as it also bears a very
Popish air, all thought it best to get rid of
it. J.E.S. and H.S. [Sewell’s brothers] felt
strongly against, and my own personal
repugnance was great. So it was sent
back to Pratt today.’
In 1853, by which time Singleton
had left Radley after disputes with
Sewell and Sewell had later returned as
Radley’s third Warden, the altarpiece
reappeared in the Old Chapel. In a
sermon Sewell told the boys: ‘It was
wished that as the chapel itself was to be
distinguished from the other buildings,
so the east end of the chapel itself should
be distinguished from the other part,
according to the known customary
principle of the Catholic, and therefore
the English Church – distinguished by
some more than ordinary decoration,
because there is the place for the table
of the Lord. Circumstances into which
it is unnecessary to enter prevented its
being erected at that time…. I have now
wished to fix this ornament in the place
for which it was originally intended
when I purchased it, six years since.’ In
his unpublished Reminiscences (1866)
Sewell wrote: ‘I had found it too strongly
accentuated when it was coloured, and I
softened it by having it silvered and gilt’.
For a century and a half the
Altarpiece has been a prominent feature
in the active religious life of Radley
Chapel. The only other Brabant retable
in ecclesiastical use in this country is
in Carlisle Cathedral. Also made in
Antwerp and now without its wings,
it has been restored by the V & A
Museum and is on permanent loan from
Brougham Castle. There is an Antwerp
retable at Towneley Hall Art Gallery,
Burnley, and one from Brussels at the
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co.
Durham. This is complete with wings,
as is the Antwerp one in the disused
chapel at Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, the seat
of an old Catholic family. In Batheaston
Church, Bath, there are the wings only of
a retable.
Iconography
The Radley altarpiece is worth a study
in detail. One has to imagine the
painted wings; the marks of the hinges
are visible at the top of the case. There
are some difficulties of interpretation
in the altarpiece. Each Passion retable
was an individual work, but the most
common iconography is for the left
compartment to contain the Ascent to
Calvary with Christ carrying his Cross;
in the centre the Crucifixion; and on the
right the Descent (Deposition) from the
Cross, or the Lamentation before the
entombment, or sometimes the former
above the latter.
The individuals who appear most
often in these Passion scenes with
Christ are the Virgin, St. John, Joseph
of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Mary
Magdalene. St. John is the writer of the
Gospel in which he refers to himself as
‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. Jesus
commends him to his mother with
the words ‘Woman, behold thy son’,
and John is normally shown with her.
In the Crucifixion scene the Virgin
traditionally stands at the foot of the
Cross on Jesus’s right and John is on his
left, or more often she is swooning into
John’s arms. They also appear together
in the Deposition and Lamentation
scenes. John, the youngest of the
Apostles, is shown beardless with long,
flowing curly hair. Joseph of Arimathea,
the ‘man of means’, is richly dressed. It
is he who obtained Pilate’s permission
to remove Christ’s body from the
Cross for burial in his own tomb. This
is mentioned briefly in the Gospels,
but the Deposition scene appears very
frequently in Passion retables. Joseph
helps to lower the body from the Cross.
In the Lamentation he supports the
corpse or stands by, sometimes holding
the Crown of Thorns or the linen
shroud. His iconographical attributes,
by which he may be recognised, are
the Crown of Thorns, the Nails from
the Cross, and the Shroud. Nicodemus,
a Pharisee, was like Joseph a secret
disciple while a member of the
Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council. He came
to Jesus by night for instruction. He is
mentioned only in John’s Gospel. He is
normally shown assisting Joseph in the
Deposition and Lamentation scenes.
In the former he is sometimes shown
removing the nails from Christ’s left
hand with pincers. This derives from
the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus.
Joseph is distinguished from him by his
richer clothing. Mary Magdalene, or
Mary of Magdala, the reformed harlot
who anointed Christ’s feet while he was
at supper, represents the Church’s image
of a penitent sinner and as such was a
popular figure in Christian art. A jar of
ointment is her symbolic attribute. Her
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The Radley Altarpiece
hair is long and flowing and golden, and
she is richly dressed in a red cloak. She
is normally seen at Christ’s feet in the
Deposition and Lamentation scenes.
Below the Passion scenes are often
to be found Infancy panels which
portray the traditional scenes for
the Annunciation, the Nativity, the
Circumcision, the Presentation in the
Temple, the Adoration of the Magi, or
the Flight into Egypt. In the centre of
these Infancy scenes the Tree of Jesse
very often appears. Scenes or figures
from the Old Testament are not often
featured prominently in these retables,
but the Tree of Jesse is an exception. It
is a common subject of medieval art,
combining the prophecy of Isaiah with
the genealogical descent of Christ from
King David and his father Jesse, as given
in the first chapter of Matthew. The line
of Jesse continues up either side of the
Crucifixion scene in the branches of the
tree.
All the characters mentioned above
can be identified in the Radley altarpiece.
But a number of figures appear who
cannot be named – with certainty. This is
partly because of the 19th entury gilding
which covers everything. But it is also
very probable that over the centuries
single figures or groups of figures have
been moved around; that identifying
implements held by individual figures
have been lost and incorrectly replaced;
and that where figures or groups of
figures were missing, they have been
replaced from an outside source. This
was common practice among 19th
century dealers and restorers.
The Crowning with Thorns
This pre-Crucifixion scene shown in the
Radley altarpiece is less common in art
than is the Ascent to Calvary which it
replaces. It takes place during the second
mocking, by Roman soldiers in the
courtyard of their praetorium (HQ). The
soldiers are in costume contemporary
with the altarpiece, which is normal.
The Crucifixion
On either side of Christ hang the two
thieves. The difference between them
is clearly indicated. The good thief,
Dysmas, is always on Christ’s right hand
(dexter or left of scene) and gazes at him.
The bad thief, Gestas, on Christ’s left
(sinister), averts his head. They are both
tied to their cross, not nailed, and their
limbs are twisted and have been broken
to hasten death. Their names are not
mentioned in the Gospels, but come from
the apocryphal ‘Acts of Pilate’.
Two figures on horseback are
balanced left and right at the foot of
the Cross, one traditionally holding a
lance and the other a reed topped with
a sponge steeped in vinegar. Tradition
names the Roman soldier who pierced
Christ’s corpse with a lance as Longinus
(from the Greek word for a lance), and
the man with a sponge as Stephaton.
Longinus is normally to the left of the
Cross as we look at it, because Church
tradition dictated that the blood and
water, symbols of the Holy Sacraments,
issued from Christ’s right side. This
Roman soldier is mentioned only by St.
John. He is generally identified with the
centurion appearing in the three other
Gospels , who exclaimed ‘Truly this man
was a son of God’, and who stands for
those gentiles who recognised Christ.
As Longinus represents the Church, so
Stephaton stands for the Synagogue.
The figure on the right of the Radley
retable holds a lance and the one on the
left what might represent a reed with a
sponge. These implements are no doubt
later replacements which may have been
transposed.
The bottom section of the
Crucifixion compartment is occupied
by a Lamentation. Mary kneels beside
her son’s corpse, which is supported at
the head by Joseph or Nicodemus and is
surrounded by mourning women. This
Lamentation scene is very common in
art, but it has no scriptural authority and
is probably derived from contemporary
burial practices. However in terms of
chronology it is quite out of place here.
The Lamentation comes in time after the
Deposition (Descent) from the Cross and
should appear below it and not under the
Crucifixion. Furthermore, the Virgin and
St. John are absent from the Crucifixion
scene which is extremely unusual and
against the authority of the Gospels. They
would in all probability have been placed
where the Lamentation now appears,
below the Cross with John supporting
the Virgin in a swoon. (The swooning
Virgin below the Cross, supported by
St. John, became a very popular scene
from the 15th century. But in the next
century it was condemned as an abuse by
the Council of Trent, which as authority
quoted from John’s Gospel: ‘Near the
Cross stood his mother’.) Finally, the
figures of the Lamentation group are
rather larger than those crowded
behind them. For all these reasons, both
iconographical and stylistic, one must
assume that the Lamentation group is a
replacement for the original figures.
To the right of the scene is a figure
holding a rather different Crown of
Thorns. He is richly dressed with an
extravagant liripipe stretching from
his hat to the ground. This is Joseph of
Arimathea who is out of place here with
his Crown of Thorns, as he also is at the
bottom left of the Crowning with Thorns
scene.
The Deposition or Descent from the
Cross
Nicodemus holds the left hand of Christ,
while the kneeling Joseph supports the
body. To the left are St. John supporting
the Virgin, and to the right Mary
Magdalene kneels with arms apart in
a characteristic gesture of compassion.
This Deposition scene is emptier than
the two other Passion scenes. Like the
Crucifixion panel it is almost certainly
not in its original form.
The Annunciation
This is perhaps the most expressive and
the most touching of the scenes. It is
carved from one piece of wood. Mary
receives the heavenly message from
the Archangel Gabriel, who is always
shown on the left of the scene. He is
carrying a wand or sceptre, as the herald
of God. Mary is traditionally dressed in
a blue robe and her hair is golden, as is
Gabriel’s. She is on her knees in front of
a prie-dieu and near a bed. This is the
usual depiction.
The Nativity
Mary is kneeling in front of the Child
lying on the ground. Her husband
Joseph holds a candle and one of the
attendant women holds up a lamp. The
ox and the ass adoring the Child are not
mentioned in the Gospels. They appear
in the apocryphal gospel of Pseudo-
Matthew and from the 4th Century
onwards were regarded as essential
witnesses. They express the fulfilment
of a prophecy: ‘The ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but
Israel doth not know, my people doth
not consider.’ These words of Isaiah were
interpreted as referring to the manger at
Bethlehem, and the refusal of the Jews to
acknowledge Christ was contrasted with
the adoration of the animals.
30 t h e o l d r a d l e i a n 2 0 0 6

THE DISTRIBUTION OF BRABANT RETABLES OUTSIDE BELGIUM TODAY
(Based on a map at the Museum of Art & History, Brussels)
The Circumcision
The Circumcision scene shows an
attendant holding the Child while the
chief priest performs the operation.
His knife is missing. He is often shown
anachronistically wearing glasses but not
here. The tablecloth retains its original
patterned decoration (appliqué). The
V-neck of the women’s costumes is a
clue to dating. Square necklines came
into fashion in the 1520s. The clothes
of women are better indications of
date than are men’s, which are often
fanciful. Women’s’ clothes are normally
contemporary, although some dresses and
headgear are theatrical.
The right-hand panel
The right-hand panel shows three women
in front and two behind. The likelihood
is that the women were put there by Mr.
Pratt to fill up a gap.
The Tree of Jesse
The Tree of Jesse shows the ancestry
of Jesus. From the body of the sleeping
Jesse comes a root. The eight figures
surrounding him are Old Testament
prophets who have foretold the coming
of the Messiah. The scrolls they carry
are meant to tell of their names and
antecedents. The words are purely
decorative and are meaningless – an
imitation Hebrew. Up the sides of the
Crucifixion panel the tree’s branches are
continued with the Kings of Judah of the
line of David. The good Kings have their
sceptres turned upwards, and the bad ones
turned down. At the bottom left David,
son of Jesse is recognisable from the harp
he carries. The other kings also have
symbols to identify them.
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31

The Radley Altarpiece
In the left panel of Radley’s altarpiece the
mocking Roman soldiers press down the
Crown of Thorns on Christ’s head. On
the extreme left Joseph of Arimathea,
carrying a duplicate Crown of Thorns,
is quite out of place. Having obtained
permission from Pilate to remove Christ’s
body from the Cross for burial in his own
tomb, he should only appear after the
Crucifixion, in the Deposition (Descent)
and Lamentation scenes in the right
hand panel. This is where he appears in
the Langerwehe altarpiece – together
with Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene (in
traditional red), St. John and the Virgin
Mary (in traditional blue).
The two Josephs are identical, carved
by the same hand in the same Antwerp
workshop – and possibly painted the
same.
In 1987 the Radley altarpiece was
professionally cleaned of its accumulated
dirt from dust and candle smoke. An
exploration was made to see if the
16th century gilt and polychromy still
exist under its 19th century overcoat.
The head of the Archangel Gabriel in
the Annunciation shows that they do.
Perhaps one day the overcoat will go to
the cleaners.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS to Mr. Hans
Nieuwdorp of the Mayer van den Bergh
Museum, Antwerp; Mrs. Ghislaine
Derveaux of the Musées Royaux d’Art
et d’Histoire, Brussels; Mrs. W. Halsema
of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam;
Dr. Herman de Smedt of the Central
Museum, Utrecht; Dr. Anton Legner
of the Schnütgen Museum, Cologne;
Mrs. Kim Woods of the Courtauld
Institute, London. Also to the following
publications: ‘Der Christliche Altar in
seiner Geschichtlichen Entwicklung’ by
Joseph Braun; ‘Les Retables Brabançons
1450-1550’ by Comte J. de Borchgrave
d’Altena; ‘La Sculpture Anversoise
aux XVe et XVI e Siècles’ by Jean de
Bosschère; ‘Retables en Bois’ by Ghislaine
Derveaux; ‘Openbaar Kunstbezit in
Vlaanderen : Retables’ The International
Board of Culture for Flanders in
association with Belgian Radio and
Television; ‘The Limewood Sculptures
of Renaissance Germany’ by Michael
Baxandale; ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’;
‘The Art Market in the Southern
Netherlands in the Fifteenth Century’ by
Lorne Campbell in ‘The Connoisseur’
magazine; ‘The Chancel of English
Churches’ by Francis Bond; ‘The Imagery
of British Churches’ by M. D. Anderson;
‘Church Furniture and Decoration in
England and Wales’ by Gerald Randall;
Warden Singleton’s Diary; Warden
Sewell’s ‘Reminiscences’ and ‘Sermons
to Radley Boys’. The illustrations on
pages 24-27 are from the Catalogue
(edited by Hans Nieuwdorp) of the
Exhibition ‘Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-
16th Centuries’ in Antwerp Cathedral
26 May-3 October 1990, organised by
the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst,
Antwerp. The illustration on page 33
is from Heinz Wamig, Langerwehe,
Germany. And special thanks to Averil
Coleman for all her help.
32 t h e o l d r a d l e i a n 2 0 0 6

Panel of altarpiece at Langerwehe in the Rhineland, west of Cologne
To mark his 40 years on Council, John Pattisson (1944) made a gift to Radley to fund the cost of
re-ordering William Sewell’s Retable in Chapel, carried out in the Easter holidays to the designs of
Robert Maguire and his wife Alison, whose inspired work at Radley includes Queen’s Court and the
Richard Morgan Library. The Retable was re-dedicated during the Chapel service on 23rd June, by the
Right Revd. Anthony Russell, Bishop of Ely and member of Council.
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