Thursday, January 15, 2009

Pre-Reformation Eton College Wall Paintings

I came across this title which is due to be published in May of this year by Boydell and Brewer.

The title sounded particularly interesting from the perspective of those interested in pre-English-Reformation ecclesiastical art. The title is presently available at a 25% discount from the normal retail price.



The Eton College Chapel Wall Paintings
England's Forgotten Medieval Masterpiece
Roger Rosewell


The late fifteenth century wall paintings in Eton College Chapel are the finest surviving examples in northern Europe. Over sixty five feet (19.812 m) long, they depict scenes from the Miracles of the Virgin separated by standing figures of saints. Largely painted in monochrome - or grisaille - style and enriched with flashes of colour, the style is reminiscent of Netherlandish art and represents a visual stepping stone between traditional gothic imagery and English renaissance art.

In the first full length study of these magnificent paintings, Roger Rosewell describes the human stories behind them; who they were made for and why, the beliefs that underpinned them, the nationality and style of the painters, the fate of the paintings during the Reformation when the College barber was paid `to wipe them out' and how they were eventually rediscovered centuries later behind layers of whitewash. Illustrated by over 150 stunning photographs, this book is a magnificent pictorial record of one of the most sophisticated masterpieces of late medieval art; a masterpiece that was almost lost to us for all time.

Roger Rosewell was educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University. A former journalist, he is Director of a private European Art Foundation and the News Editor of the on-line stained glass journal, VIDIMUS. His other published works include Medieval Wall Paintings.


Product Link: Eton College Wall Paintings

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