Английская Википедия:Despenser Reredos

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Use British English Шаблон:Infobox artwork/wikidata The Despenser Reredos or Despenser Retable is a medieval altarpiece now in St Luke's Chapel, Norwich Cathedral. It is the cathedral's most important work of art. The altarpiece shows five scenes from the end of Christ's life—his flagellation, his journey to the cross, his crucifixion, events that follow his burial, and the Ascension. The scenes, which are painted on wood in vivid colours, are surrounded by a rectangular frame. The original reredos may originally have been positioned at the cathedral's high altar.

The reredos is generally considered to have been commissioned by the Bishop of Norwich, Henry Despenser, following the defeat of a rebel peasant army at the Battle of North Walsham in 1381. Alternative theories have been suggested for the reason for its commission, including that it was made to mark the visit to the city by Richard II of England in 1383, or as thanksgiving for the completion of work done in the cathedral. Heraldic shields around the frame may represent the families who were involved in suppressing the Peasants' Revolt in East Anglia, or who contributed to the cost of producing the piece. A number of family names for the shields, first suggested at the end of the 19th century, have since been reinterpreted by researchers.

The reredos remained lost until 1847, when it accidentally rediscovered in the cathedral, having been remade into a table, with the paintings concealed underneath. The upper part of the reredos (which included part of the central figure of Jesus) had been sawn off by carpenters when constructing the table top. The panels and frame were restored by Pauline Plummer in the 1950s, since when the reredos has been used once more as a altarpiece.

Introduction

The Despenser Reredos is a medieval altarpiece used in St Luke's Chapel in Norwich Cathedral, which has been used as a parish church since the 16th century.Шаблон:Sfn The reredos was discovered in the cathedral in 1847, having been converted into a table and kept for years in an upper room, with the altarpiece paintings hidden underneath. The reredos had been sawn off at the top and the four corners had been cut out to enable table legs to be inserted.Шаблон:Sfn

May's account of the painting did not disclose details about how the artefact was discovered in the chapel room, what the table was being used for when it was found, or its originally use in the cathedral.Шаблон:Sfn Following the discovery of the reredos, it was displayed in a glass case in the cathedral's south ambulatory.Шаблон:Sfn

Commission

Файл:W.H. St J. Hope - Painted Table or Reredos of the 14th Century in the Cathedral Church of Norwich.jpg

William Henry St John Hope's original photograph of the reredos (1898)

It has been suggested from the existence of heraldic shields around the borders of the reredos that it was made as an act of thanksgiving following events in Norfolk during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, a conjecture first made by the English antiquary William Henry St John Hope in 1898.Шаблон:Sfn The shields would have represented local families who had wanted to thank God for the defeat of the rebels at the Battle of North Walsham in June that year,Шаблон:Sfn most notably Henry le Despenser, who led the forces against them.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn It is possible that the reredos was commissioned by Despenser, an English nobleman and the Bishop of Norwich at the time of the Peasants' Revolt.Шаблон:Refn A link with the Revolt cannot be proved.Шаблон:Sfn

Hope examined the surviving heraldry on the reredos, and suggested family names for seven of the shields. Hope's analysis of the shields has since been reinterpreted by modern researchers; their findings may actually connect the reredos with the Peasants’ Revolt even more closely. Hope identified “clear traces” of the Despenser family arms on the frame, but his photograph of 1898 does not show it.Шаблон:Sfn His suggestion that the arms of Stephen Hales, who was captured by the rebels, is included on the reredos, is probably correct.Шаблон:Sfn

The medievalist Sarah Beckwith has argued that the commission was directly related to the insurrection in the manner of an object lesson, suggesting that "the peasants who had dared, albeit abortively, to contest their ordained position in the social hierarchy and whose revolutionary gestures were based on an identification with Christ, are once again shown a story, a story they already know very well".Шаблон:Sfn

The reredos could have been commissioned by Norwich Cathedral to mark the visit to the city by Richard II of England and his queen Anne of Bohemia in 1383. There is no evidence to suggest who paid for the reredos. The historian David King considers that “a collective donation by those represented in the heraldry” is the most like means by which the costs of the artefact were met. Шаблон:Sfn The reredos may have been dedicated in the presence of Richard, a possibility that is more likely if it was intended to be used for the cathedral's high altar.Шаблон:Sfn According to the medieval art historian Pamela Tudor-Craig, the purpose of the heraldry on the reredos was to commemorate "not only those who contributed to the altarpiece itself, but those who had helped fund the reconstruction of the eastern arms of the church".Шаблон:Sfn

Description

Construction of the frame

The reredos is the cathedral's most important work of art. It is located behind the altar in St Luke’s Chapel.Шаблон:Sfn The painted scenes are on a wooden panel made from at least four planks, over which a frame was attached. The five scenes were separated by mullions, of which only one survives. Dowels were used to join the pieces. At least one of the upper planks is missing, as the top of the reredos was sawn off to make a rectangular bench top, and Шаблон:Convert squares of wood were removed from the reredos to allow for the construction of legs at the four corners.Шаблон:Sfn

The original shape of the frame cannot be determined, but it was probably rectangular. The frame may have had 30 heraldic shields, as well as some of the Instruments of the Passion. Шаблон:Sfn Only those around the sides and along the bottom of the frame survived when the reredos was converted into a bench. Шаблон:Sfn

Painted panels

The five sections of the reredos are each devoted to one aspect of Christ's final days.Шаблон:Sfn The colours used are vivid, and include a bright red and a blueish green.Шаблон:Sfn The paintings were never deliberately damaged, but paint has been lost from them over the centuries. The loss of the top part from three of the panels only resulted in the removal of the architectural settings.Шаблон:Sfn The upper part of Christ has been lost in two of the panels.Шаблон:Sfn

The first panel shows an almost totally naked Christ being whipped whilst being tied to a pillar. Jesus is looking at his persecutors with sadness rather than in pain. The Roman soldiers are made to look ugly as they grimace and dance, a sign that they are evil.Шаблон:Sfn The men scourging Jesus are shown as labouring peasants—with sunburnt skin, rustic clothes, and bare legs—whilst Jesus himself is almost naked and depicted with a pale-looking skin.Шаблон:Sfn A bearded authority figure that may represent Pilate is shown in this panel. The second panel shows Christ surrounded by soldiers as he is made to carry his cross.Шаблон:Sfn The central panel depicts the crucifixion of Christ. The panel has been completely restored by Pauline Plummer (like the others), so that the reredos can be used in religious services. The panel shows Mary, mother of Jesus, being held by St John the Evangelist. A group of three men opposite to them includes a person who may be the same authority figure shown in the scourging scene. A quotation from the Bible reads Шаблон:Lang (“This man was truly the Son of God”).Шаблон:Sfn The fourth panel shows events that follow the Burial of Jesus. He is shown carrying a banner and stepping onto the shoulder of a sleeping soldier as he rises from his tomb. Unlike the drawing of Jesus, the tomb has no perspective.Шаблон:Sfn The fifth panel shows the Ascension of Jesus, with the Disciples and the Virgin Mary arranged around him. Much of the figure of Jesus is lost, a result of the top of the panel being cut away when the reredos was made into a table top.Шаблон:Sfn It is unclear how much of Jesus was originally depicted in this panel.Шаблон:Sfn

In the reredos, Christ is shown as humbly accepting his fate from those with the power to prescribe it; a similar position, says Beckwith, to the position the peasantry found themselves in following their abortive rebellion.Шаблон:Sfn

Provenance

Following its discovery in 1847, Way and a colleague, the art historian Matthew Digby Wyatt, both interpreted the altarpiece as having come from Italy.Шаблон:Sfn However, the origin of the reredos remains uncertain. It was at first considered by experts to be of Italian or German origin, but later specialists believed it to be influenced by French or Bohemian craftsmen—Hope's 1897 account stated that the retable was an example of “genuine English art”, and that it had been made in Norwich.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

The panels are similar to others in a Norwich church, but experts cannot conclude from this that it was made locally. . The historian David King has concluded that the origin of the reredos cannot be ascertained by the style of the panels.Шаблон:Sfn In contrast, Tudor-Craig wrote that there is evidence that the reredos was "executed by local craftsmen".Шаблон:Sfn

Sources

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite ODNB
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book

Further reading

• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite journal