Saturday, September 4, 2021

Cancellaresca at St Michael's Mount

St Michael's Mount in Cornwall looks very much like its more famous French namesake over The Channel - an island in high tide but accessible dry shod in the low. It used to be (like the namesake) a monastery, after king Henry's dissolution it became an aristocratic residence and now is a tourist attraction. It is certainly impressive, both the monastic church and the palatial rooms, and well maintained rockery garden around.

With all the attractions I guess few people notice stained glass windows in one of the rooms. I guess even fewer people notice any calligraphy there. But I did. They are not windows from the time of the monastery and in fact they are not proper stained glass, they are really paintings on glass. I found one with an inscription in cancellaresca. The inscription is not in English, seems to me to be in Dutch, which would suggest it was brought here from somewhere else. The style of the painting above would suggest it was created sometime in the 17th century.





There is a book available, based on this blog.  


On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.


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