WEST WALL - CHAPEL OF THE TRINITY, STRATFORD UPON AVON 1838 LITHOGRAPHS

2 Original 1838 18 1/2 inch x 12 3/8 inch Hand-Coloured reprints of the 1807 Lithograph Titled PAINTING ON THE WEST FACE OF THE WALL WHICH DIVIDES THE NAVE FROM THE CHANCEL OF THE CHAPEL OF THE TRINITY, STRATFORD UPON AVON IN WARWICKSHIRE.

”This large painting, which was in full view of the nave, above the chancel arch, represents the Last Judgment or Day of Doom. In the centre is the Almighty seated ona bow, between Saint Mary and Saint John, who are kneeling in adoration. In the front are persons of both sexes, and of various ranks, rising from their tombs and graves; and among them are, a Pope distinguished by his tiara, a King by his crown, a Bishop by his mitre, and Monks by their tonsure. On the right hand of the Almighty are the mansions of Heaven, represented as a city, with a giant figure of St. Peter receiving the righteous at the gate. On the opposite side are the wicked being turned into hell, its entrance represented, as was usual, by the mouths of a devouring monster: and with its fiery gulph they are suffering various torments from the busy demons. Some of the figures are marked with labels denoting Pride, Avarice, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony: two more, Sloth and Lechery (the names of which have perhaps been defaced) would complete the number of the Seven Deadly Sins reckoned by the Church of Rome. On the battlements of hell are some demoniac trumpeters.
In front of this picture remain the brackets on which the rood-loft was fixed; and the outlines of the carved figures of the rood, or crucifix, and its usual attendants, St. Mary and St. John, which were carved probably in wood.”- Fisher

Drawn and Engraved by Thomas Fisher (1772 - 1836). Amateur painter, engraver and early lithographer.

In 1804 a scheme of wall paintings were discovered during restoration works in the Guild Chapel at Stratford-upon-Avon. They depicted scenes such as the Legend of the Discovery of the True Cross, the Last Judgement, Saint George slaying a Dragon, the Dance of Death and the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Beckett. Thomas Fisher, an English antiquary, produced coloured drawings of the frescos when they were discovered and published them in 1807. They were soon afterwards whitewashed or destroyed. In 1809 Fisher re-issued these plates along with facsimiles of original documents he had found during further investigations. Though it was Fisher’s intention to publish letterpress with all his plates, a stipulation of the 1818 Copyright Act regarding legal deposit requirements prevented him from doing so. He got around this by publishing his research in an 1835 edition of The Gentleman’s Magazine, then edited by the antiquary and publisher John Gough Nichols. Two years after Fisher’s death Nichols reprinted a luxury edition of the original plates, finally with letterpress, and featuring new engravings and facsimiles of previously unpublished material.

From ‘Ancient Allegorical, Historical, and Legendary Paintings, In Fresco, Discovered in the Summer of 1804, on the Walls of the Chapel of the Trinity, belonging to the Gilde of the Holy Cross, at Stratford-Upon-Avon’ published by Henry George Bohn, 4 York Street, Covent Garden, London. 1838.

The lithograph is in very good condition, printed in two separate plate The left hand plate measures 14 1/2 inch x 11 1/4 inch; the right hand plate measures 16 inch x 11 1/4 inch. Reverse sides blank.