Stratford misericords.
May. 23rd, 2009 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloA misericord is the ledge on the underside of a tip up seat in a choir stall that gives the stall's occupant something to perch on during the upstanding bits of the service. Misericords are often beautifully carved and- presumably because they weren't on open display- the carvers were allowed to have fun with them. Holy Trinity, Stratford has a fine 15th century set. While Ailz attended the OU Shakespeare society's annual general meeting last Saturday I snuck out and took some photographs.
These are mermen, I think. The one centre right looks a lot like one of those hoaxes known as feejees which consist of the upper bit of a dried monkey stitched to the lower part of a dried fish.
This is outrageous stuff. On the left a man and woman fighting- he pulls her hair, she kicks him in the nuts, in the centre a figure I'm guessing to be the Whore of Babylon but which a site I consulted describes as a sphinx, and on the right a naked man birching a naked woman whose leg is being eaten by a dog.
My favourite. A woman in bed flanked by flying monsters. I like to think she's dreaming them.
She has a da Vinci smile.
These are mermen, I think. The one centre right looks a lot like one of those hoaxes known as feejees which consist of the upper bit of a dried monkey stitched to the lower part of a dried fish.
This is outrageous stuff. On the left a man and woman fighting- he pulls her hair, she kicks him in the nuts, in the centre a figure I'm guessing to be the Whore of Babylon but which a site I consulted describes as a sphinx, and on the right a naked man birching a naked woman whose leg is being eaten by a dog.
My favourite. A woman in bed flanked by flying monsters. I like to think she's dreaming them.
She has a da Vinci smile.
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Date: 2009-05-23 04:14 pm (UTC)No, that's not why the authorities don't always allow photography; that's more to do with respect and not having flashes going off all the time. A lot of churches are happy with cameras- and sometimes the bigger ones make you buy a permit.
The misericords in Holy Trinity are on full display. If people don't notice them it's because they're too busy looking at Shakespeare's grave.