Devon and Cornwall notes and queries (1920) (14593817217)

Identifier: devoncornwallnot112amer_0 (find matches)
Title: Devon & Cornwall notes & queries
Year: 1920 (1920s)
Authors: Amery, John S
Subjects:
Publisher: Exeter, England : J.G. Commin
Contributing Library: Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive



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or it may have been suggested by a passage in ahomily of St. Augustine, in which, speaking of our adversarythe devil, he says, He. is lion and dragon in one,impetuous as the lion, and insidious as the dragon, ragingopenly like the former, and lying in wait secretly like thelatter. (Homily xxxiv). Most likely it had no symbolical interpretation,and was only intended for ornament. It may have beencopied from an Oriental fabric ; Bishop Bruere brought somefrom Bagdad, it is just the kind of lion that is seen tothis day in eastern stuffs, and the stiff curliness of themane suggests that it was derived from some kind oftextile rather than from a drawn or painted pattern. It isstill more probable that it was an heraldic lion from abanner, seen in the Holy Land or elsewhere. The original photograph from which the illustrationis derived was taken in 1870, before the restoration. Itwill be noticed that the edge of the shelf is worked bythe chisel, and has the subtle charm of handwork. This 16
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THE MISERICORDS OF EXETER CATHEDRAL. is now lost; the edge has been shaped on the lathe into around moulding, and sand-papered to the utmost. Lion and Dragon in Combat (No. i). A lion in combat with a dragon of rather indeterminatetype; the lion is a lean, hungry beast with its ribs showing,quite different from the sleek creature on No. 5. Honorius dAutun says the lion is antichrist, and thedragon the devil, and refers to Psalm xci., 13: Theyoung lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.Associated in this way, possibly the lion and dragonsymbolize the evil principle in its strongest form. This misericord is of a different type from all therest; I think it may be assigned to the fourteenth century,but there will be more to say about it later, when consideringthe evidence of date. Here it need only be noticed thatthe group is disproportionately large, and to accommodateit, the edge of the shelf is made so thin as to be hardlyperceptible when turned up, but this example has been