Lichfield
Staffordshire
West Midlands
The Close
(Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Chad)
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Statues on the Lady Chapel of Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral V
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19th century
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Description
Each of the eight buttresses has two niches with statues.
Starting with the most western buttress on the north side around the chapel to the south side.
Top row holy women of the Old Testament:
(click on the photo for an enlargement in a separate window.)
- Ester, the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther (Wikipedia).
- Ruth, main character in the Book of Ruth (bundle of corn) (Wikipedia).
- Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth (Wikipedia).
- Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul's concubines (Wikipedia).
- Deborah, prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel (palm branch) (Wikipedia). Another statue of Deborah is at the West Front, no. 16.
- Miriam, prophetess, sister of Moses and Aaron (tambourine) (Wikipedia).
- Rachel, favorite of Biblical patriarch Jacob's three wives as well as the mother of Joseph and Benjamin (shepherd's crook) (Wikipedia). Another statue of Rachel is at the West Front, no. 15.
- Rebecca, wife of Isaac (no. 26) and the mother of Jacob and Esau (jar) (Wikipedia). Another statue of Rebecca is at the West Front, no. 14.
Bottom row, holy women of the New Testament:
(click on the photo for an enlargement in a separate window.)
- Priscilla, with her husband Aquila traditionally listed among the Seventy Disciples. They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul (Wikipedia).
- Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary (Wikipedia).
- Dorcas, also St. Tabitha, disciple who lived in Joppa (Wikipedia).
- Mary Bethany, Mary of Bethany, biblical figure described in the Gospels of John and Luke (Wikipedia).
- Martha, Martha of Bethany, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John (Wikipedia).
- Lydia, Lydia of Thyatira, woman mentioned in the New Testament who is regarded as the first documented convert to Christianity in Europe (Wikipedia).
- Phebe, Phoebe, first-century Christian woman mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (Wikipedia).
- Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (Wikipedia).
Lichfield Cathedral - 153 statues
The exterior of Lichfield cathedral is extremely rich with sculpted statues. Only the west front has 113 statues! On the rest of the exterior are 40 more statues. To make our web pages manageable, we firstly limited ourselves in photographing the large statues (the pointed archivolts of the entrance are decorated with many figures as well), and secondly, divided the description into seven parts of the cathedral:
Curiously, the exterior walls of the nave does not show any statues.
Only five of the statues and the 'Christ in Majesty' in the roof of the west doorway are medieval, all others are carved in the late 19th century by various Victorian sculptors.
The interior of the cathedral is even richer in statues, but on this website we usually do not include statues in the interior of churches.
Close to the cathedral is also the statue of Charles II.
Sources & Information
- Clifton, Arthur Benjamin. The Cathedral Church of Lichfield: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See. (London, 1898). Internet Archive. (cons. 27 June 2014), pp. 50.
Tags
Locatie (N 52°41'8" - W 1°49'47") (Satellite view: Google Maps)
Item Code: gbwm029; Photograph: 7 June 2014
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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