Voussoir
ca. 1170-1175 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of two voussoirs(A.17, A.18-1916) from Saint Batholomew the Great, Smithfield, London, England. This voussoir is made in about 1170-1175 and probably found in the excarvations and restorations carried out in 1864.
The church of Saint Bartholomew the Great was founded by Rahere in 1123. The building progressed throughout the twelfth century and the nave was completed by about 1230. This voussoir is from different orders on a window or doorway, but the original position of this in the church is unclear. However as the building programme had reached at least as far as the transepts by 1160, there are a number of possibilities, including small doors into the cloister or a large decorated window: a fine example of the latter, now destroyed but known through drawings, existed at the Moot Hall, Colchester. This window had similar voussoirs to this voussoir, and may be dated to around 1175. There is a voussoir of exactly the same type and size as this one, now loose on window ledges in the Lady Chapel of Saint Bartholomew's.
The church of Saint Bartholomew the Great was founded by Rahere in 1123. The building progressed throughout the twelfth century and the nave was completed by about 1230. This voussoir is from different orders on a window or doorway, but the original position of this in the church is unclear. However as the building programme had reached at least as far as the transepts by 1160, there are a number of possibilities, including small doors into the cloister or a large decorated window: a fine example of the latter, now destroyed but known through drawings, existed at the Moot Hall, Colchester. This window had similar voussoirs to this voussoir, and may be dated to around 1175. There is a voussoir of exactly the same type and size as this one, now loose on window ledges in the Lady Chapel of Saint Bartholomew's.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved Caen stone |
| Brief description | Limestone vossoir from St Bartholomew the Great church, Smithfield, London, England, ca. 1170-75 |
| Physical description | Limestone voussoir of an arch. Hollow moulding decorated with pierced, beaded scrolling foliage with berries. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by the Architectural Association |
| Object history | This Caen stone (a form of limestone) voussoir from the church of St. Bartholomew the Great in Smithfields, London, and (along with A.17-1916) would have formed part of a window or doorway. In date and style it is similar to surviving voussoirs from Dunstable Priory and the Temple Church, also English work, which date from the 1180s. The two voussoirs from St. Bartholomew's are a decade or so ealier, since the style of the foliage is more 'purely Romanesque' (P. Williamson, 'Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture', V&A publication, London, 1983, p. 94), the under-cutting of the said foliage being deeper. The rendering of the berries and foliage is classic English Romanesque: highly stylised, geometric, elegant and uncluttered with a deceptively simple and restained minimalism which contrasts with the increasing business of the subsequent Gothic style. |
| Historical context | A voussoir is a wedge-shaped stone or brick used to form an arch of the sort commonly seen in medieval churches. This voussoir came from an arch in the church of St. Bartholomew the Great in Smithfields, orginally the church of an Augustinian Priory, was founded in 1123, but building work continued until about 1230, when the nave was completed. Adjustments and fashionable improvements were made until the dissolution of the Priory in 1539, by which time very little of the orginal Romanesque architecture and decoration remained. After 1539, the church building suffered considerably until it was restored in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This is one of two voussoirs(A.17, A.18-1916) from Saint Batholomew the Great, Smithfield, London, England. This voussoir is made in about 1170-1175 and probably found in the excarvations and restorations carried out in 1864. The church of Saint Bartholomew the Great was founded by Rahere in 1123. The building progressed throughout the twelfth century and the nave was completed by about 1230. This voussoir is from different orders on a window or doorway, but the original position of this in the church is unclear. However as the building programme had reached at least as far as the transepts by 1160, there are a number of possibilities, including small doors into the cloister or a large decorated window: a fine example of the latter, now destroyed but known through drawings, existed at the Moot Hall, Colchester. This window had similar voussoirs to this voussoir, and may be dated to around 1175. There is a voussoir of exactly the same type and size as this one, now loose on window ledges in the Lady Chapel of Saint Bartholomew's. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.18-1916 |
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| Record created | November 7, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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