tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post3799123741788188500..comments2024-03-25T15:10:13.792+00:00Comments on English Buildings: Malmesbury, WiltshirePhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-50760932598620663742014-06-07T16:24:57.623+01:002014-06-07T16:24:57.623+01:00I think it was more than job creation, more like o...I think it was more than job creation, more like offering up. Also, many greater churches provided at least the chance of seeing ceiling carvings from a closer vantage point than the floor, because there were galleries, triforia, and so on, where at least some of those who used the building might go. This does not apply to tower or other exterior carvings, though. Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-3677607632259705022014-06-07T09:42:46.978+01:002014-06-07T09:42:46.978+01:00I wonder if the sculptor quite realised that the w...I wonder if the sculptor quite realised that the work would never be seen adequately from floor level? A guidebook to Laon cathedral reckoned the carvings on the tower were there for only God to see, but this face is hardly a holy picture, just a rather nice celebration of the human face. Or would all such works of art be "offered up" (as long as, presumably, paid for)? Is this the ecclesiastical equivalent of providing work for the sake of providing work cf. the 18th century follies? (There are certainly worse kinds of job creation, as all too many jobless can testify.) Joseph Biddulph (Publisher)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08655472675410890012noreply@blogger.com