Just Like Gandalf

The light over the mirror in the cloak room at Wagamama was brighter than I'm used to- and it showed me that I'm no longer greying about the temples but white. I've transitioned- just like Gandalf. Hooray.

But the inner self doesn't think of itself as old. Later in the day I was at the doctor's to pick up a prescription. The rules in place to stop us catching the sniffles allow only one person at a time at the reception desk so we were queuing outside in the drizzle- and I was looking at the people behind me and thinking, "It can't be healthy for these poor old dears to be standing about in this weather- perhaps I should step aside and let them go first...."

Medieval Faces

First thing I do when I enter a church is march to the west end and take a general survey of the building- assess its age, style, atmosphere. After that I go looking for special features: monuments, stained glass, oddities.

And after that I search for faces.

Faces?

Yes. Some churches are full of them. As often as not they turn up in the form of corbels- projecting lumps of masonry designed to support and tidily round off arches, roof beams and such like structures. Often they're grotesque. Sometimes you suspect they may be portraits. The best ones are medieval. The Victorians carved them too but their efforts tend towards the generic- noble kings, beauteous queens, reverend bishops.

Here are three from a church I popped into this afternoon- St John the Baptist, Wittersham. I'm not very clever with dates (because time's an illusion, right?) but I'll guess at 14th century. They're sufficiently different for one to suppose they may be the work of different artists- though the broadness of the noses suggests they all studied in the same school. The first is a character study- masculine, forceful, humourous, the second is an amusing caricature and the third is such a striking combination of the spiritual and the sensual that I think the mason must have been in a little in love with his creation...