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The North transept window is thought to represent the outside of Canons palace... The windows, organ and paintings came from Canons... The three larger paintings are now glued onto wooden laminate panels, but were originally on a backing, nailed to stretchers fixed to a wooden frame. The smaller paintings are glued to the false ceiling. Why does the angel with the glove (3rd left from the door) appear to have two bottoms? There are various explanations, but the most likely is that it is a poorly executed scar (note that there are three others with definite scars). The Downes Syndrome child, the child next to him with the hammer and nails and the child opposite with the red bag of money all have scars as a result of having Tuberculosis of the spine (Potts Disease). The infection leads to an abscess in the groin which has to be lanced. The window openings were a little too large for the windows, and the yellow leaves are not part of the original design, but are there to block in the space. Gilding is done using almost pure gold leaf. 24 carat gold is too soft, and a hardening amalgam is used for a quarter carat, hence 23¾ carat gold leaf is used. The mother of a elderly visitor to the church had been a kitchen maid at Witley Court. When they were having a party, she would crumble gold leaf into the jellies as they were setting. Yes, one ate the gold! The John the Baptist window illustrates best that most of the panes are plain glass painted with enamel which is then fired. The 3-D trompe l'oeil effect is made by creating the clothes with stained glass which is then painted with enamel and fired. The right hand window depicts Moses receiving the Commandments from God, and is the only window from the Old Testament. Handel knew the case of the organ; the keyboard was installed by Nicholson's of Worcester, who still maintain it. The men who worked at restoring the stucco had Italian names, but Cockney accents, evidently having had their Italian stucco skills passed down in families. Their paper base was Andrex toilet roll, as it takes the finest detail! In a church in Kirkleatham, near Redcar in Yorkshire, is the same "Adoration of the Magi" window as ours - but it is reversed, with Mary on the left, and is by Joshua Price's son, William. Their face looking over the wall at Mary is a different one from ours - theirs is a portrait of William Price, so is ours a portrait of Joshua? At the top of the column under the Cherub whose face appears to be cut off, there is a plain yellow pane with just clouds ahowing, and the grey initials " J P " can be seen in the top left hand corner under the angel's wing. Is this the clue to the identity of the portrait? |
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