So as promised at the end of my last post, this post will compare chasses designed to hold Becket’s bones (commonly found throughout Europe), explain how coloured enamel is made, show you how to spot tales relevant to Becket when looking at Canterbury Cathedral’s windows and finally, compare and contrast British and European souvenirs.
Chasses:
Designed for the purpose of holding Becket’s bones, chasses’ were popular all over Europe, with the style varying from country to country. Below are French and Spanish examples. The shape of chasses does not change dramatically and indeed it is a style noted to be ‘evidently of the twelfth century; it is an ark like form… with plates of copper gilt and blue enamel’’*.
Across Europe, chasses are a vital example of Becket’s importance in history to everyone; he was a poster-boy for popular piety. These remaining pieces are part of private collections that are often loaned to museums around the world, that were brought for hundreds of thousands of pounds and are now worth even more.
Coloured Enamels - Methodology Behind the Multi-Colour Magic:
Much like the lining enamel, there are two types of coloured; that which would be comparable to paint, and that which would be created, fired and held together by lead. As the Becket windows are made from the latter style, I have considered this in more detail.
Depending on which colour the artist wanted to create, different oxides would be added, for example to make Green, Copper Oxide would be added (although if the Copper was added at a different temperature it would create red and blue tones). To make Blue, Cobalt would be added. To make Red, Gold would be added and finally, to make Yellow, Uranium/Cadmium Sulphide would be added.
The glass would then be blown and before it was fired, the shapes needed for the windows would be cut to size*. Once fired, they would be bonded with lining enamel (explained in the previous post) and the window would be ready.
Telling Tales; How to find Becket in Canterbury’s Windows:
In Stained Glass of Canterbury Cathedral by M.A Michael (£14.95 from the actual Cathedral), there’s a short guide of how to spot different saints and stories in different windows – for example, if there is a tray of food, and the tray is quite long, the story will feature a leper.
There are three images that relate to finding Becket in the windows, but to prevent copyright charges, I’ve done some small drawings below to illustrate the things to look out for. The name of the story is also written, so that the actual image can be found easily.
The Shrine that would have covered Becket’s body, (lifted for pilgrimages) is believed to have been gold*, and it is common lore that when it was lifted, Becket’s soul would roam free and heal the sick. A soul could represent any saint, but the Shrine is definitely applicable to Becket.
The lecturn with a book shows that the characters in the window’s story were praying for/to Becket. It also represents the monks vigil over the martyr’s body.
A bottle of water being poured into a bowl is holy water combined with the Saint’s ‘magical’ blood – it represents the cleansing of sin and the healing of the victim in the story.
The Gift Shop:
When visiting Becket’s shrine, it was not unusual for pilgrims to leave little trophies celebrating their Saint. These would be left with his body and luckily, a few are still in good condition. Below there is a 12th Century trophy and a 14th Century (the first is British, the second is French) for comparison*.
In this piece, the shrine with Becket’s body is shown. As mentioned earlier, the shrine would be lifted to show his body – both this and the later piece show this. This would have taken place in the Cathedral itself, and the fact that the pieces were made approximately two centuries apart show that Becket’s popularity did not die easily.
Top: 12th Century, Bottom: 14th Century.
Left: The 12th Century Becket is far more ‘cartoon’ in detail; the 14th (particularly found in the robe and headwear) is more detailed. The dots on the shrine are almost in diagonal rows too, showing that the later artist was more aware of capturing precise detail. The basic style however remains the same, and for many of the Pilgrim’s trophies, this was an acceptable, liked style.
Next Time:
In my next blog, I’ll be edging away from images and discussing the different viewpoints on piety and its development in the 12th Century through academic texts.
Footnotes:
* Quote from W.H Ainsworth - Ainsworth’s Magazine: a Miscellany of Romance, General Literature and Art. Vol, 1 (1842) 171
* Did you know that the stained glass would be based on a drawing called a cartoon? The word actually connotes to a thick lined pencil drawing – the thick pencil lines would be used to show where the lead would hold the glass together.
* Becket’s Shrine would have been above this candle that marks the original location of his body, before Henry VIII ordered its removal during the Reformation. The candle is lit 24 hours a day, and is refilled with oil each morning in memory.
* Both images of the the Pilgrim’s souvenirs are taken from Art and Architecture of Late Medieval Pilgrimage in Northern Europe and the British Isles Vol. 2
Chasses:
Designed for the purpose of holding Becket’s bones, chasses’ were popular all over Europe, with the style varying from country to country. Below are French and Spanish examples. The shape of chasses does not change dramatically and indeed it is a style noted to be ‘evidently of the twelfth century; it is an ark like form… with plates of copper gilt and blue enamel’’*.
This above chasses is French, whilst the one below is Spanish; they are almost identical in physical shape, (although the Spanish one is slightly more chunky) and both have similar detailing. They show Becket being murdered next to the altar (to his right, indicated by the cloth and chalice). Blue and gold enamel are used in both and traditionally this colour combination represents royalty. The detail on the lids are also slightly different; they both have angels representing his ascendance to Sainthood (and to the right of the French chasses, you can see a portrait of Becket as a Saint) but whilst the French use a more fluent style line and excessive detail on the robes, the Spanish use block lines of colour and larger circles for detail. The artists of both pieces are unknown and because there are many chasses to be seen around Europe, it is down to detailing to distinguish one country’s style from another.
Coloured Enamels - Methodology Behind the Multi-Colour Magic:
Much like the lining enamel, there are two types of coloured; that which would be comparable to paint, and that which would be created, fired and held together by lead. As the Becket windows are made from the latter style, I have considered this in more detail.
| How the coloured enamel would be made: |
| 1. Medieval furnaces were not hot enough to melt silica (the substance that makes glass) as it has an extremely high melting temperature… |
| 2. So Soda and Lead were added to lower the temperature of the silica. |
| 3. Lime was then added to strengthen the now thinned-down silica mix |
| 4. And finally, Metallic Oxides were added to create colour. |
The glass would then be blown and before it was fired, the shapes needed for the windows would be cut to size*. Once fired, they would be bonded with lining enamel (explained in the previous post) and the window would be ready.
Telling Tales; How to find Becket in Canterbury’s Windows:
In Stained Glass of Canterbury Cathedral by M.A Michael (£14.95 from the actual Cathedral), there’s a short guide of how to spot different saints and stories in different windows – for example, if there is a tray of food, and the tray is quite long, the story will feature a leper.
There are three images that relate to finding Becket in the windows, but to prevent copyright charges, I’ve done some small drawings below to illustrate the things to look out for. The name of the story is also written, so that the actual image can be found easily.
The Shrine that would have covered Becket’s body, (lifted for pilgrimages) is believed to have been gold*, and it is common lore that when it was lifted, Becket’s soul would roam free and heal the sick. A soul could represent any saint, but the Shrine is definitely applicable to Becket.
The lecturn with a book shows that the characters in the window’s story were praying for/to Becket. It also represents the monks vigil over the martyr’s body.
A bottle of water being poured into a bowl is holy water combined with the Saint’s ‘magical’ blood – it represents the cleansing of sin and the healing of the victim in the story.
The Gift Shop:
When visiting Becket’s shrine, it was not unusual for pilgrims to leave little trophies celebrating their Saint. These would be left with his body and luckily, a few are still in good condition. Below there is a 12th Century trophy and a 14th Century (the first is British, the second is French) for comparison*.
In this piece, the shrine with Becket’s body is shown. As mentioned earlier, the shrine would be lifted to show his body – both this and the later piece show this. This would have taken place in the Cathedral itself, and the fact that the pieces were made approximately two centuries apart show that Becket’s popularity did not die easily.
  |
Left: The 12th Century Becket is far more ‘cartoon’ in detail; the 14th (particularly found in the robe and headwear) is more detailed. The dots on the shrine are almost in diagonal rows too, showing that the later artist was more aware of capturing precise detail. The basic style however remains the same, and for many of the Pilgrim’s trophies, this was an acceptable, liked style.
Next Time:
In my next blog, I’ll be edging away from images and discussing the different viewpoints on piety and its development in the 12th Century through academic texts.
Footnotes:
* Quote from W.H Ainsworth - Ainsworth’s Magazine: a Miscellany of Romance, General Literature and Art. Vol, 1 (1842) 171
* Did you know that the stained glass would be based on a drawing called a cartoon? The word actually connotes to a thick lined pencil drawing – the thick pencil lines would be used to show where the lead would hold the glass together.
* Becket’s Shrine would have been above this candle that marks the original location of his body, before Henry VIII ordered its removal during the Reformation. The candle is lit 24 hours a day, and is refilled with oil each morning in memory.
* Both images of the the Pilgrim’s souvenirs are taken from Art and Architecture of Late Medieval Pilgrimage in Northern Europe and the British Isles Vol. 2
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