Queries.
Reading edition
HUBERT LE SŒUR'S SIX BRASS STATUES.
In a curious MS. Diary of the early part of the seventeenth century, lately come into my possession, I find the following entry concerning the sculptor, Hubert le Sœur:—
"March 7. 1628. Had an interview with ye famous and justly renowned artiste H. le Sueur, who, being late come to this countrie, I had never seene before. He showed me several famous statues in brasse."
This is probably the earliest notice of the celebrated pupil of John of Bologna after his settlement in England. Dallaway, in his Anecdotes of the Arts in England (p. 395.), after stating that Hubert le Sœur arrived here about the year 1630, says,—
"If he was associated with Pierre Tacca, who finished the horse in the equestrian statue of Henry IV. in 1610, left incomplete on the death of his master, John of Bologna, two years preceding, he must have been far advanced in life. Three only of his works in bronze are now known with certainty to exist: the equestrian statue of Charles I. [at Charing Cross], a bust of the same monarch with a casque in the Roman style [now at Stourhead], and a statue in armour of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, Lord High Chamberlain and Chancellor of Oxford. The last was given to the University by T., Earl of Pembroke, about the time of the restoration."
The "several famous statues in brasse" alluded to by the writer of the Diary above quoted, were probably those which afterwards ornamented the gardens of St. James's Palace. Peacham, in his Complete Gentleman (2nd edit., 4to. 1634), having spoken of the collection of statues at Arundell House, says:—
"King Charles also, ever since his coming to the Crown, hath amply testified a royal liking of ancient Statues, by causing a whole army of foreign Emperors, Captains, and Senators, all at once to land on his coasts, to come and do him homage and attend him in his Palaces of Saint James and Somerset House. A great part of these belonged to the great Duke of Mantua; and some of the old Greek marble bases, columns, and altars were brought from the ruins of Apollo's temple at Delos, by that noble and absolutely complete gentleman, Sir Kenelm Digby, Knt. In the garden of St. James, there are also half a dozen brass statues, rare ones, cast by Hubert le Sueur, his Majesty's servant, now dwelling in St. Bartholomew's, London; the most industrious and excellent statuary, in all materials, that ever this country enjoyed. The best of them is the Gladiator, moulded from that in Cardinal Borghesi's Villa, by the procurement and industry of ingenious Master Gage. And at this present, the said Master Sueur hath divers other admirable moulds to cast in brass for his Majesty, and among the rest, that famous Diana of Ephesus. But the great Horse with his Majesty upon it, twice as great as the life, and now well nigh finished, will compare with that of the New Bridge at Paris, or those others at Florence and Madrid, though made by Sueur, his master John de Bologna, that rare workman, who not long since lived at Florence."
The bronze statue of the Gladiator originally stood (according to Ned Ward's London Spy) in the Parade facing the Horse Guards. Dodsley (Environs, iii. 741.) says it was removed by Queen Anne to Hampton Court, and from thence, by George the Fourth, to the private grounds of Windsor Castle, where it now is. Query, What has become of the other five "famous statues in brass?"
Edward F. Rimbault.
BISHOP JEWELL'S LIBRARY.
What became of Bishop Jewell's library? Cassan mentions (Lives of Bishops of Salisbury, vol. ii. p. 55.) that
"He had collected an excellent library of books of all sorts, not excepting the most impertinent of the Popish authors, and here it was that he spent the greatest and the best part of his time," &c.
Bishop Jewell died Sept. 22. 1571.
In the Account Books of Magdalen College, Oxford, I find the following items:—
"A. D. 1572. Solut. Dno Præsidi equitanti Sarisbur. pro libris per billam, iijli xvis.
"Solut. pro libris Dni, episcopi Sar., cli.
"A. D. 1574. Solut per Dom. Præsidem pro libris Mri Jewell, xxli."
Whether these books were a portion only, or the whole of the library of Bishop Jewell, I am unable to discover; nor am I aware at present whether Bishop Jewell's autograph is in any of the books of Magdalen College Library. The president was Lawrence Humphrey, author of a Life of Jewell.
Magdalenensis.
THE LOW WINDOW.
The low windows in the chancel of so many of our ancient churches have proved a fruitful source of discussion among archæologists, and numerous theories have been advanced respecting their use. Perhaps the words of the chameleon in the fable might be addressed to many who have attempted to account for their existence, "You all are right and all are wrong"—right in your supposition that they were thus used; but wrong in maintaining that this was the exclusive purpose. Some example, in fact, may be adduced irreconcileable with any particular conjecture, and sufficient to overturn every theory which may be set up. One object assigned is, the distribution of alms; and it is surely reasonable to imagine that money collected at the offertory should have been given to paupers from the chancel through this convenient aperture. The following passage from the Ecclesiologist, quoted in page 441. of "Notes and Queries," has induced me to bring this subject forward:—
"In them (churchyards) prayers are not now commonly poured forth to God, nor are doles distributed to his poor."
Now it must be admitted that relief could scarcely be given to a crowd of importunate claimants without the interposition of some barrier; and where could a more appropriate place be found than the low window? Can any of your readers, therefore, oblige me with some information upon these points? Where were the alms bestowed, if not here? An almonry is described in some recent works as "a building near the church." What authority is there for such an assertion, and do any examples of such structures remain? What evidence is there that this business was transacted in the churchyard, in the porch, or in any particular part of the edifice?
Although these mysterious openings are probably, with one or two exceptions in Normandy, peculiar to this country, it is desirable to ascertain where the poor on the Continent usually receive such charitable donations. In an interior of a Flemish cathedral, by an artist of the sixteenth century, a man is represented in the act of delivering bread to a number of eager beggars, from a sort of pew; showing, at least, as above remarked, that some such protection was requisite.
There is another Query connected with this subject, which I beg to submit. Some ancient frescoes were lately discovered in the chapel of Eton College, with a compartment containing (according to a letter in the Ecclesiologist) a bishop administering the Holy Communion to a converted Jew, through a low window. Can any one, from recollection or the inspection of drawings, (for the original has disappeared,) assure me that he does not hold in his hand a piece of money, or a portion of bread, for the supply of his bodily wants?
T.