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Norwich Cathedral

 

BACK TO WALES, CENTRAL ENGLAND AND EAST ANGLIA

 

LINK TO SOME CLOISTER ROOF BOSSES

 

The medieval wooden nave roof 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 go with the Nikons .....

 

 

Adam and Eve (and Serpent) holding together the roof of the east nave

 

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.

 

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.

 

A cloven handed devil wheelbarrows a terrified soul off to hell, straddled by a naked alewife waving a jug of best bitter

 

 

Noli me Tangere

The Jaws of Hell

Last Supper (postcard image)
The blind archer Lamech shoots Cain

More to come ... Meantime there is a book (and indeed a CD ROM) of stunning roof boss photos and explanatory text.

 

 

 

Norwich Cathedral Web Site (Including shop)

LINK TO SOME CLOISTER ROOF BOSSES

 

Links to other Paradoxplace pages

 

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