Thursday, 11 March 2010

synchronicities in art / St Etheldreda

When I was browsing the images of St Etheldreda today, I found this painting, which instantly triggered the memory of the second one and to a vision I was once given.




TitleSt Etheldreda
SubjectFour scenes from the life of St Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely in the seventh century
Inventory numberScharf XI
Way/Museum No. 317a, 317b
MaterialsOil on oak panels
Dimensions(a) 1215 x 545mm (48 x 21 inches)
(b) 1220 x 525mm (48½ x 20½ inches)
ArtistProbably Robert Pygot, a Bury St Edmunds painter, employed at Ely Cathedral in 1455
Datec 1455
Frame1340 x 1245mm (53 x 49½ inches)
InscriptionFour rhyming couplets, painted in black letters on a white ground, one beneath each of the scenes, the two on the left-hand panel half erased. The following can be deciphered:

Eicfrid[o] regi : non carnis su[bdita legi] To Eicfrid the king : not in body but in law

[E]the[ldreda sponsa datur : nec vi]rg[initas violatur]Etheldreda as bride is given : but her virginity is not violated

Hic rex dat votum: quod sancta petit fore totum: Here the king gives a vow : because the saint seeks to be whole

Extans corde rata: permansit virgo beata: Standing out with steadfast heart : she has remained a virgin blessed

Hic nova templa deo fund[at...] Here new monasteries for God she founds...

[I]n ipsa virgineis [...] In her with maidenly...

Quater quaternos: est ut tu[m]ulata pe[r] annos: Through the years four times four she is as she was buried

I[n]tegra spe[c]tatur : ... prec[isa] cutis medicatur: She is seen to be incorrupt : her damaged skin is healed

Mother Eliora, 
M.S. OHR


                    
        ORDER OF THE HOLY ROSE




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