Place of Origin
Norwich, United Kingdom (made)
Date
1450-1470 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Segrym, Ralph, born 1350 - died 1472 (commissioned by)
Materials and Techniques
tempera on oak panel
Marks and inscriptions
Marked with the device and initials of the donor Ralph Segrym
Dimensions
Height: 102.2 cm, Width: 79 cm, Depth: 1.5 cm maximum
Object history note
Commissioned by Ralph Segrym (died 1472), a merchant who was Sheriff of Norwich in 1447, MP for Norwich in 1449 and Mayor in 1451
From the Chapel of St Mary in St John's Church, Maddermarket, Norwich.
Painted in Norwich by an unidentified artist
Historical significance: The panel is painted with two full-length, nimbed figures of saints, in gold and colours. It is among the earliest examples of this form of English painting and one of the very few screens which can be dated.
This panel depicts a female saint, on the left-hand side, in blue ermine-lined red mantle over a green robe, with pincers in her left hand holding a tooth, objects most commonly associated with S. Apollonia. On the right-hand side is a corresponding male saint, in a red mantle over a brown robe, with bare feet, three nails in his head, three nails in his right hand and a hammer in his left, objects attributed to the locally renowned saint S. William of Norwich. The saints face each other with downcast eyes, standing alone apart from the objects in their hands. The backgrounds of each figure are alternately red and green, S. Apollonia being on red, and are decorated with pomegranate and flower patterns in gold. Above S. William is the device and above S. Apollonia, the initials of Ralf Segrym, merchant of Norwich, the donor of the panels. His initials enable the panel to be dated.
The Maddermarket panels illustrate two characteristics common to artistic production of mid-15th century England; the influence exerted by an increasingly affluent merchant class and the possibility of gaining information about donors of screens, by inscriptions or documents relating to the people who provided them. Other notable examples of known donors are found at East Harling, Shelton and Long Melford.
The donor of the Maddermarket panels, Ralf Segrym, whose initials can be found on each of the panels, became a freeman of Norwich in 1426/7 as a mercer. He served as chamberlain of the city from 1437 to 1439, as Sheriff in 1447, M.P in 1449 and Mayor in 1451. He participated in four other parliamentary elections at Norwich between 1442 and 1453, on the last occasion being described as an alderman. Segrym was a benefactor to Norwich and appears to have shown particular interest in the city’s prisoners, using money allocated by the will of John Wilbeye to charitable works to construct a separate prison for women in the city guildhall. He also financed the creation of a chapel outside the guildhall from his own funds. This may have been to serve prisoners there, for the dedication was to S. Barbara, the patron saint of prisoners, but it could have been used for chantries. Segrym’s interest in the welfare of prisoners may explain the inclusion of S. Leonard, a saint associated with the releasing of prisoners, on the Maddermarket panels. After his death, a memorial brass effigy of Segrym and his wife was placed above their tomb in the church of St John Maddermarket, Norwich.
As indicated by the Maddermarket panels, donors were largely local lay figures, rich landowners or merchants. However, in lesser buildings it was more often quite humble people who provided church furnishings and decoration, acting together in guilds or even paying for just one or two panels of a screen. Piecemeal patronage was the general rule, and although one important figure or family may have provided the initial inspiration and finance for a large project, such as Anne Harling and her first two husbands at East Harling, many different people were involved in the long run, and in smaller churches it would have been unusual to find a unified scheme of decoration.
Historical context note
The rood screen, also referred to as a choir or chancel screen, is a common feature in late medieval parish church architecture. It divides the chancel, the priest and altar, from the congregation in the nave. It is typically an ornate screen, constructed of wood, stone or wrought iron. The word rood derives from the Saxon word rood or rode, meaning “cross”. The screen is so called because it was surmounted by the Rood, a large figure of the crucified Christ. This was usually surrounded by statues of saints, commonly S. Mary and S. John.
During the mid-15th century, the burgeoning class of economically prosperous city merchants appears not to have extended much patronage to painting. However, the building and decoration of churches was a different matter. A great many churches were constructed or added to in this period, such as Long Melford and Lavenham, Suffolk, of which considerable sums of money for the works were provided by secular donors. One notable exception of mercantile patronage to painting, in this period, was the Norfolk rood screens.
Artistic activity during this period, which contains few major works of high quality, centres mainly on two media: stained glass and screen painting. Comparisons in artistic style may be made between these, partly perhaps because 15th century panel painting is found principally in rood screens, which being constructed with elaborate tracery framework, suggest a link with the general concept of window design. Despite slight degrees of stylistic continuity, the painted screens, a great number of which are found in East Anglia, show little connection with the style of local glass.
Descriptive line
Panel from a rood screen commissioned by Ralph Segrym, from the Chapel of St Mary in St John's Church, Maddermarket, Norwich, painted in Norwich by an unidentified artist 1450 -1470
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Clifford Smith, H., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of English Furniture and Woodwork, 1929, p. 33, no. 98, pl 3 (full description)
Lasko, P., and Morgan, N. J., Castle Museum Norwich, Medieval Art in East Anglia, Norwich, 1973, no. 74, p. 50
Rickert, M., Painting in Britain. The Middle Ages, 2nd ed., London, 1965, pp. 185-188
There is some debate surrounding the comparative figure styles of the Maddermarket panels and its associates.
Rickert (1965) proposed that "the style of the figures is to be associated with a group of East Anglia screens distinguished by Constable as belonging to the coastal area and having contact with the Netherlands. The best example of the style of the group is the screen at Hempstead, in which typical characteristics of figures are the small cheeks, protuberant foreheads and fully modelled drapery, all of which are found in the Maddermarket panels. The presence of St Leonard, who also occurs on the Hempstead screen and on only four others, connects the Maddermarket panels with this East Anglia group."
Lasko and Morgan (1973) disputed this suggested connection with the choir screen of Hempstead, as "not convincing". Instead parallels were drawn between the Maddermarket panels and the choir screen of Barton Turf, Norwich Region, c.1440. "There is also some similarity in facial type with the earliest glass at St Peter Mancroft."
Moore, A and Thofner, M. The Art of Faith: 3,500 years of Art and Beleif in Norfolk, London, 2009, no.2.8, p.30.
Exhibition History
The Art of Faith: 2000 Years of Art & Belief in Norfolk (Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery 02/10/2010-23/01/2011)
Labels and date
British Galleries:
In a pre-Reformation church the whole congregation looked towards the rood screen, which separated the priest and altar from the people. The saints shown here both suffered for their faith. St Agatha was tortured and her breasts were cut off with pincers. St William of Norwich was said to have been slaughtered by Jews in the 12th century. [27/03/2003]
Materials
Oak; Tempera
Techniques
Painting
Subjects depicted
Floral patterns; Coats of arms; Architecture; Figures (representations); Saints; Halo; Robes; Faith; Suffering; Nails; Blood; Martyrs; Hammers; Pincers; Agatha (Saint); Antisemitism; William (Saint, of Norwich)
Categories
Woodwork; Religion; Christianity; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
