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Britain - Photo and History Pages Paradoxplace BRITISH ABBEYS AND CATHEDRALS
Norwich Cathedral
BACK TO WALES, CENTRAL ENGLAND AND EAST ANGLIA
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| LINK TO SOME NORWICH CATHEDRAL CLOISTER ROOF BOSSES | ||
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The medieval wooden nave roof of Norwich Cathedral was destroyed by fire after a lightening strike in 1463, following which stone vaulting replaced wood, and gave the opportunity to follow what had earlier been done in the cloister in the 1300s when hundreds of painted narrative roof bosses were set at the joining points of the structural ribs.
In total there are now over a thousand painted bosses in the church and cloister, the majority of which are either components of a meta story (like the story of the world or the life of Jesus) or individual events. Of course in the nave the bosses are a bit less accessible to the naked eye than in the cloisters (like they are the tiny little dots at the top centre of the above photo), but that did not stop Paradox having a burl with the Nikons .....
Norwich Cathedral Web Site (Including shop)
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Adam and Eve (and Serpent) holding together the roof of the east nave More Adam and Eves
El Paradox was rather chuffed with some of his boss photos - For the technically minded they were taken with a monopodded Nikon D80 using right angle eyepiece attachment, 70 - 200 high speed VR Nikon lens plus a x 2 Nikon teleconverter, giving a 35mm equivalent of over 600.
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This photo from the back cover of the book (see below) shows how the "Adam and Eve ensemble" fits together, though to get even this sort of perspective you would need one of the mirrors provided or a pair of binoculars. |
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A cloven handed devil wheelbarrows a terrified soul off to hell, straddled by a naked alewife waving a jug of mild and bitter.
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Noli me Tangere |
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The Jaws of Hell |
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postcard image |
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| Last Supper | ||
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| Unconventional Resurrection / Ascension - no clothes and papal tiara - not a scene Piero della Francesca would recognize! | ||
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| The blind archer Lamech shoots Cain | ||
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| An early dragon bashing during the Old Testament | ||
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Lower down in a choir misericord Saint George picks up the theme against a dragon standing on a sheep who seems to be ......?
Link to photos of all the Norwich misericords
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More to come ... Meantime there is a book (and indeed a CD ROM) of stunning roof boss photos and explanatory text. The photos below come from the book, which is sadly difficult to get hold of.
Norwich Cathedral Web Site (Including shop)
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Nativity scene
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The shepherds reach Bethlehem
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Noah fills his ark - one of our favourites.
Link to Noah and his arc in Burgundy: Autun Vézelay
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| LINK TO SOME CLOISTER ROOF BOSSES | ||
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For other Paradoxplace links visit the home page
All original material © Adrian Fletcher 2000-10 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission
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