Medieval Wall Paintings in English and Welsh Churches (review)

The study of British medieval wall painting is not for the faint-hearted. In contrast to their southern European and Mediterranean counterparts, British paintings have suffered badly due to a damp climate, which is seldom conducive to maintaining mural paintings in ancient buildings. Often we study fragments of original cycles, later copies of original cycles, or overpainted original cycles. When paintings are extant, their study involves extensive field-work:travel to frequently remote churches (or more rarely castles), recording and photographing the paintings (normally in conditions so poor that they require expert photographic skills), followed by the documentary and comparative work that can take place in the cozy confines of the archive. And this is not without difficulty: the remarkable range of subject matter in British wall paintings requires careful contextualization in a range of biblical, theological, and devotional sources, which are in themselves a complete area of research.

When understood in this light, Roger Rosewell's new book makes an even more welcome addition to the field. It is a substantial volume of almost 400 pages, complete with six chapters on the history and interpretation of wall paintings, as well as a range of appendices: a gazetteer of major wall paintings in England and Wales, and a subject guide, followed by a bibliography. The book itself is testimony that Rosewell very clearly knows and follows the methodology laid out above. Although not aiming to replace E. W. Tristram's formidable volumes on twelfth-, thirteenth-, and fourteenth-century English wall paintings, Rosewell's book now represents the fullest visual record of British medieval wall paintings between two covers. The book contains hundreds of excellent color photographs of wall painting from c. 1000 to after the Dissolution, many taken by the author. The recording of the paintings and collection of the photographs alone represents a major achievement. These images are beautifully presented throughout, and the author's text, which covers a range of problems including patronage ("Patrons & Painters"), execution ("Making Wall Paintings"), and interpretation ("Meaning & Understanding") is well written and highly accessible.

Rosewell's book is one of those rare books in medieval art history, which, although written by a scholar outside of the academy, will make a major contribution to academic and nonacademic circles alike. For enthusiasts, this book will be a well-thumbed volume that will provide inspiration for a lifetime of travel and study. The price tag should not hinder this book's purchase by a wide audience. For scholars, this book now represents thefundamental handbook for the subject. Even for the present reviewer, who publishes regularly on English wall painting, this book brought to light important monuments that I had overlooked and will no doubt do the same for other academic readers. Given the travel-intensive nature of the discipline, the images provide fruitful visual stimulus until onsite visits can be achieved.

However, the book has limitations natural to a publication meant to straddle the divide of academic and nonacademic audiences. The text is clearly written throughout, but it does not and cannot aim to provide a synthesis of the scholarly literature. The bibliography, while admirably full, is in places incomplete. Also, the gazetteer, while giving useful potted summaries, does not include a brief bibliography under each entry, which would have been very useful. In addition, while the author does limit his study to paintings in churches, one wonders how valid this divide is, especially given the country's history of wall paintings in secular settings. Recent discoveries at the Bishop's Palace, Wells, the Tower of London, Westminster Palace, Nottingham Castle, and other places could well have been integrated into this study, thus broadening our understanding of the practice of wall painting in the period.

These points are in no way meant to diminish this book, but rather to suggest ways in which it might be used by diverse audiences. Scholars and non-scholars alike owe Rosewell a debt of gratitude for...