Thirteenth-Century Wall Painting of Salisbury Cathedral: Art, Liturgy, and Reform (review)

Matthew Reeve’s book rightly notes that the important thirteenth-century paintings of Salisbury Cathedral have been scarcely discussed previously, and therefore their fitting place in the understanding of the cathedral has been disregarded. Concentrating on the paintings of the vaults of the east end, Reeve explains their iconography, place in the architectural framework, and role in the rituals of the Church. Although the vault paintings now visible are nineteenth-century re-creations, the author is able to reconstruct most of the originals, the execution of which he dates persuasively to c. 1236–44, but perhaps planned as early as c. 1220. By using late-eighteenth-century drawings and descriptions, he identifies the subjects of the images and their possible meanings for the canons. Earlier studies on the paintings by Frank Horlbeck included some of the same information, but Reeve, whose bibliography reveals energetic research through museum, archival, and secondary sources, has incorporated more material and interpreted it further.¹ He also corrected some of Horlbeck’s interpretations by locating other texts, such as a later recension of the Ordo Prophetarum in Rouen, the Festum Asinorum, that match the images more specifically.

Since Reeve has published almost all of the material on the paintings in a series of articles (2005–07), readers might ask what does the book, which reprises a fair amount verbatim, contribute to the topic beyond providing easier access with welcome color plates. The author emphasizes that the paintings should be more widely considered within their architectural and historical contexts. To this end, he has added chapters 1 and 2, giving a rather polemical summary of previous scholarship on the cathedral. Chapters 3 through 5 analyze the iconography, style, and use of primarily the vault paintings. A concluding chapter summarizes the material but overstates various points. Two appendices include transcriptions of the legends accompanying the paintings and their description as recorded in the eighteenth century.

The subjects of the vault paintings are read from west to east and were selected as appropriate for the specific architectural situation. In the choir, Old Testament prophets and other ancient prophesying figures such as a sibyl sit enthroned over the heads of the seated canons, who gaze eastward toward the New Testament imagery of Christ in Majesty, the four Evangelists, and the apostles in the eastern crossing. Laterally, in the eastern transept there are twenty-four angels holding liturgical objects in medallions. Beyond, the Labors of the Months, again depicted in roundels, adorn the presbytery (not the ambulatory, as stated on page 102). Reeve posits a Last Judgment for the destroyed glazing of the eastern clerestory window. Thus, the Old Testament is linked with the New, and further east time continues while on the ground below the associated terrestrial present performs within the system. As the author comments, the scheme is simple, but the implications involving the canon viewers are complex.

The book posits a context of the clergy’s concern with pastoral and liturgical reform, which eventually culminated in the famous Use of Sarum. Reeve regards the integration of the meanings of the vault paintings and the beliefs of the clergy responsible for the building as essential, citing “the ontological relationship of imagery to architecture” (p. 5); he castigates previous scholarship that neglected to present such a perspective.

Although its explanations and repetitive summaries seem geared to a general or undergraduate audience, there is much of interest in this scholarly book. There are, however, several problems. Whereas the author has mined his sources vigorously, not all are cited in their proper places. Others are misrepresented. Some of Reeve’s points (such as the notion of the integrated program of the images) have already been made by Horlbeck, despite Reeve’s assertions to the contrary.² Reeve also claims that many of the “antiquarian drawings and descriptions . . . have been published in this book for the first time” (p. 129), yet not...