Statues - Hither & Thither

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Oxford
Oxfordshire
South East England

All Souls College
(Gate Tower, High Street)

Resurrection, King Henry IV and Bishop Chichele

John Massyngham
15th century (copies)

Description

A relief and two statues above the gate:

Oxford - Resurrection, King Henry IV and Bishop Chichele
1. Resurrection
2. Henry IV
3. Henry Chichele

(top) Bas relief of the Resurrection, which above it a figure of Our Lord.
(left) Henry IV (Bolingbroke Castle 1366 - Westminster Abbey 1413), Son of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster - grandson and heir male of Edward III, king 1399-1413 (Wikipedia).
Right: Henry Chichele (also Checheley) (c. 1364 - 1443), Archbishop of Canterbury, 1414-1443, founder of St. Bernard's College in 1437, and All Souls College in 1438 (Wikipedia).

Annotation

From A History of the County of Oxford:

On the south face there are three niches. The history of the figures which filled these niches is mysterious. In the Typus the niches appear empty, but in 1633 'the three statues over our gates of our Saviour, of King Henry the sixt and our founder were … polished, smothed and renewed with varnishe and guilt as formerly they had beene'. How the medieval figures survived the Reformation is suggested by the following entry in the Computus Roll of 1548, 'pro clavi et reparacione sere ostii domus in qua imagines reponebantur'. In 1642 the Parliamentarian soldiers 'discharged at the image of our Saviour over All Soules gate and would have defaced all the worke there had it not byn for some townesmen who entreated them to forbeare'. Loggan shows the big central niche, where our Saviour had stood, empty save for the souls at its foot, but the two lower niches filled by statues. The 18th-and early-19th-century views do the same. The angel and souls in the upper niche were 'reworked in Bath stone' in the restoration of 1826-7, and the two lower figures were 'repaired and cleaned' at the same time. The niches were recarved and the statues replaced by modern sculptures by Mr. W. C. H. King in 1939-40.

Colleges in Oxford

Most of the university colleges in Oxford occupy large areas with several buildings and courts ('quads' in Oxford). There are numerous statues, mostly in the façades of the various buildings. The statues with ☒ are not visible from the public road. Most of the colleges are accessible for visitors during certain times of the day, some for free, others for a small (or not so small) fee.

Sculptor

John Massyngham, 15th century English sculptor.

Sources & Information

H. Avray Tipping, The Universities of Oxford & Cambridge, At: Country Life.
H E Salter and Mary D Lobel (ed.), A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3, the University of Oxford (1954). At: British History Online.

Locatie (N 51°45'9" - W 1°15'10") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: gbse146; Photograph: 18 October 2015
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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