Medieval History
Thousands of visitors come into Canterbury Cathedral each day, where they gaze upon the hundreds of years of history in one of England?s greatest churches. Many of them will see the great stained glass images in the windows of the cathedral, believing that these were created in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately two of the most iconic images in the Cathedral are actually fakes created in the first half of the 20th century.
In ?Fakes and Forgeries in Canterbury?s Stained Glass?, a lecture given last week at the University of Toronto, Rachel Koopmans explained how these images came into the cathedral and have fooled people for so long. One of the faked images is known as the Pilgrims panel, which shows four figures on the move and has been associated with the characters of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The other is a portrait of the famous martyr and saint Thomas Becket, which some books have even described as being a contemporary depiction of the twelfth-century Archbishop.
Koopmans explains that both of these images, and many more in the Cathedral, were actually created by Samuel Caldwell Jr., who was the person in charge of restoring Canterbury?s glass for more than fifty years. During this time he created dozens of works and duped various church officials into believing they were genuine medieval images.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
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Medieval History
The Fake Medieval Images in Canterbury Cathedral
In ?Fakes and Forgeries in Canterbury?s Stained Glass?, a lecture given last week at the University of Toronto, Rachel Koopmans explained how these images came into the cathedral and have fooled people for so long. One of the faked images is known as the Pilgrims panel, which shows four figures on the move and has been associated with the characters of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The other is a portrait of the famous martyr and saint Thomas Becket, which some books have even described as being a contemporary depiction of the twelfth-century Archbishop.
Koopmans explains that both of these images, and many more in the Cathedral, were actually created by Samuel Caldwell Jr., who was the person in charge of restoring Canterbury?s glass for more than fifty years. During this time he created dozens of works and duped various church officials into believing they were genuine medieval images.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
- St Andrews Cathedral In Scotland Recreated Online
People can now explore St Andrews Cathedral, Scotland?s largest medieval church, as it looked in the Middle Ages, through a new online portal created by the University of St Andrews. Visitors will be able to create their own avatars and navigate...
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Treasures lost in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral since the Blitz are to be uncovered for the first time in 70 years. They include an underground network of ancient crypts and chapels, and a large haul of medieval stained glass windows. Dr Jonathan Foyle,...
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Helen Brower is a window cleaner and people pay five pounds ($7.25) an hour to watch her work. Brower is one of a half dozen glaziers hired to clean and restore the world?s largest collection of medieval stained-glass windows. They festoon York Minster,...
- Medieval Stained Glass In Wales Image Catalogue Goes Online
The University of Wales has launched an online catalogue containing over 5000 image of stained glass windows dating back to the Middle Ages. A one-day forum is being held today to formally launch the new online resource, which can be found at: http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/...
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Back to Fledborough again. The church contains a significant amount of medieval stained glass. With the exception of only a couple of pieces, the glass is all fourteenth century and therefore contemporary with the church building itself. The couple of...