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measures 3 feet 8 inches in length at the bottom, 2 feet 7 inches in length at the top, 1 foot 1 inches in height, and about 11 inches in thickness. Like the stone recently found, it is of magnesian limestone from the neighbourhood of Tadcaster. On each of the outer edges of the tympanum is a flat band about 2 inches in width, with a slight chamfer on its inner edge, immediately above which is a narrow band of circular convex projections, or pearls, each about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Along the lower part of the stone is the recumbent figure of a man in articulo mortis, bearded, with the upper half of his body naked, and the lower half, from the waist, draped. Above are three tormenting devils, arranged to harmonise with the lines of the arch. The devil on the left has horns, large ears, a hideous face with large mouth and grinning teeth, hairy body, arms and legs, wings, and a twisted tail. His right hand grasps the soul of the dying man, represented by a small naked figure issuing by the legs from his mouth. The left hand of this devil is represented as passing behind the body of the soul, and grasping the jaw of the dying man as if it had forced the mouth open to allow the soul to escape; the two fingers are broken away from the lip, but the third is distinctly seen under the chin, with a long nail-like claw exactly like that which grasps the back of the head of the soul. Over the dying man is the second devil, similarly represented with horns, wings, hairy arms and body, tail, and cloven feet, and with his legs crossed as if flying; his big mouth is biting the left arm of the soul; his right hand, which grasps the left arm of the dying man, has three long claw-like nails, and his left hand seems to be represented with fingers and thumb; he is cloven-footed, and apparently has had a tail. On the right is the third devil, squatting, with horns, hairy arms and body, and tail, but he has no wings, and his feet are not cloven; his hands are grasping something which has been broken away. The general character of the sculpture very closely resembles that of the larger stone. The hair on the heads of the central and right-hand devil is represented by a series of circular convex projections, precisely like those on the upper and lower heads on the right side of the larger stone.

This tympanum may be compared with a parallel representation, which occurs in the series of twelfth-century sculptures on the west front of Lincoln, shown in the accompanying illustration. Here two

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1 This pearl ornament occurs on several carved stones of the latter part of the twelfth century, preserved in the Museum.

2 E. Trollope, op. cit., p. 12, and fig. 10. E. S. Prior and A. Gardner, Mediaval Figure-Sculpture in England, in the

Architectural Review, vol. xii. (Oct., 1902), fig. 46, p. 150.

3 I have to thank Mr. Arthur Gardner for his kind permission to reproduce this photograph.

angels receive the soul of a dying man, lying prone and naked to the waist. Below a devil is pushing three souls down into a great hell-mouth. Dr. James' explains these subjects as the death of Lazarus, 'carried by angels into heaven,' and of Dives, whose two friends share his doom, and he connects them with other adjoining sculptures which represent Dives feasting with two companions, with Lazarus at the door with dogs licking his sores, and Abraham's bosom. This last subject frequently appears in representations of the Last Judgment.

We have still to consider the question of the date and position of these York sculptures. It is possible that the tympanum may have belonged to the building in which it was found as a loose fragment, though this by no means necessarily follows, and on other grounds I think it is more likely that it came from the adjoining west front of the Minster. There can be little doubt that the larger stone once adorned the Minster. Still no documentary evidence has survived, nor is there anything in the building itself to assist in forming a definite conclusion. The remaining parts of the crypt of the choir reconstructed by Archbishop Roger of Pont l'Evêque, and the surviving fragment of the palace which he built on the north side of the cathedral, do not afford much assistance in dating these sculptures, though it is possible that the latter may have formed part of some unrecorded work constructed in the later years of his episcopate. The next recorded work is the reconstruction of the south transept by Walter de Grey (archbishop 1216-1255), but there is no place in his work for these sculptures, which are decidedly earlier in character. We have but little evidence, therefore, beyond that which is afforded by the two stones themselves.

If we compare them with works which we have reason to place about the middle of the twelfth century, we find here very decided development in the style of their sculpture. Instead of the flat treatment, and the rigid attitudes and stiff drapery of the mid-twelfth century, we have here full modelling, vigorously natural attitudes, and greater freedom generally. On the other hand, the drapery of the

1 Cambridge Antiquarian Society's Proceedings, vol. x. (1901), p. 150.

2 Cf. the sculptures illustrating this parable on the west jamb of the porch of Moissac. The upper subject within the right arcade is the death of Dives, who is represented as lying in bed, with a devil taking his soul from his mouth; another devil takes his purse; and below is his weeping wife. The corresponding panel within the left arcade represents Dives in torment, with his purse falling

from him (G. Fleury, op. cit., fig. 20). For a later treatment of the same subject cf. a panel in the lower part of the Portail de la Calende of Rouen cathedral (c. 1270-1280), described and illustrated in Les portails latéraux de la cathédrale de Rouen, by Mlle. Louise Pillion (Paris, 1907), p. 101 and fig. 30).

3 Hargrove's suggestion (on his illustration) that the tympanum belonged to a doorway of the crypt, seems to me to be extremely improbable.

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female figure on the larger stone is rendered by incised lines, in contrast with the more skilful modelling which we find in the sculpture of the first half of the thirteenth century. My conclusion then is that both these stones date from the last quarter of the twelfth century. This view is confirmed by an examination of many sculptured fragments of this period preserved in the York Museum, which prove too that York at this time possessed a vigorous school of sculpture.

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As to the probable position of these sculptures, it is not possible to do much more than hazard a guess. It is important to note that neither appears to represent an isolated subject. Of the larger stone this is certain, and it is almost certain of the tympanum also, if (following Dr. James's explanation of the Lincoln sculptures) we interpret its subject as the death of Dives.' There can be no doubt that the larger stone formed part of a representation of the Doom, or Last Judgment, the most natural position for which would be on the west front. The tympanum, if it belonged to a doorway, would involve a very narrow opening (of slightly over 3 feet), and it appears to be more natural to suggest that it may have been the tympanum of an arched recess, or of a bay of a wall-arcade. The Lincoln sculpture illustrated above suggests that these two York sculptures may even have been associated as scenes in the same drama, the large panel filling the lower part, and the tympanum the upper part of either the same or of two similar arched recesses, a conjecture which is not contradicted by their relative widths. We know that the builders of the Anglo-Norman school of the second half of the twelfth century never attempted to rival the great sculptured portals of Moissac, Conques, Autun, Vézelay, le Mans, and Chartres. We know their fondness for decorating their façades with ranges of wallarcades. These Lincoln and York sculptures suggest that the façades of these two cathedrals may have been decorated with a series of separate sculptured panels, set in the wall or within wall-arcades, forming a complete scheme of iconography, such as was afterwards developed on the west front of Wells. It is a matter of regret that, so far as York is concerned, the data are not sufficient to make this more than a reasonable conjecture.

1 The analogy of the earlier sculpture at Moissac seems to me to make this interpretation certain for the York tympanum.

2 The width of the tympanum on its lower edge, measured within the flat of the edge moulding, is 3 feet 3 inches,

and from this must be deducted the width of the slight chamfer on the inside of the moulding.

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Compare the façades of contemporary churches in Poitou, Saintonge and the Angoumois.

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