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Vetusta Monumenta: Ancient Monuments, a Digital Edition

Volume 1, Plates 1 — 26

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Plate 1.2 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts an early 11th-century Viking charter horn made from elephant tusk and probably carved by Islamic craftsmen in Salerno, Italy, with new silver mounts added in 1675. The horn was given to York Minster c. 1036 to symbolize a gift of land from Ulphus or Ulf Toraldsson. Engraving by George Vertue after B. M. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1718. Current location: York Minster, York, UK.
Plate 1.4 of Vetusta Monumenta shows a portrait of Richard II, c. 1395, in Westminster Abbey: the earliest known portrait of an English monarch. The engraving preserves design elements that were destroyed in 1866, but also gives a more idealized representation of the monarch’s features than does the portrait itself. Engraving by George Vertue after Giuseppe Grisoni. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1718. Current location: Westminster Abbey, London, UK .
Plate 1.5 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts three medieval seals. Top: Seal of Clare College, Cambridge (1359). Center: Seal of the Cathedral Priory of St. Etheldreda, Ely (c. 1280). Bottom: Seal of the Priory of Cottingham (1322). Engraving by George Vertue [after his own drawing]. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1720. Current locations: The top seal is in Clare College, Cambridge, UK; an impression of center seal is in Westminster Abbey (WAM 7933), London, UK; the bottom seal is in the British Museum (1913,1105.2), London, UK.
Plate 1.6 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the ruins of Walsingham Abbey in Norfolk, most of which are no longer standing. This topographical print is the earliest example of a more popular approach in Vetusta Monumenta, reflecting a taste for landscapes with ruins. Engraving by Gerard Vandergucht after J. Badslade. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1720. Current location: Little Walsingham, Norfolk, UK.
Plate 1.7 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts one of the eleven crosses that Edward I ordered to be built between 1291 and 1294 to commemorate the funeral procession of Queen Eleanor. The print documents the early preservation efforts of the Society of Antiquaries. Waltham Cross was re-engraved by James Basire after Jacob Schnebbelie for the third volume of Vetusta Monumenta (Plate 3.16), where it appears with two more of the Eleanor Crosses. Engraving by George Vertue after William Stukeley. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1721. Current location: Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, UK.
Plate 1.8 of Vetusta Monumenta features an extensively labeled map of the Roman remains of Verulamium with inset images of two ancient British coins and a section of Roman wall. Engraving by George Vertue after William Stukeley. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1721. Current location: Stukeley’s original map is preserved at the Society of Antiquaries of London; the Roman ruins today are encompassed by the modern city of St. Alban’s in Hertfordshire, UK.
Plates 1.9-1.12 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the ruins of the twelfth-century abbey church of Fountains, Yorkshire, with extant monastic structures. The images offer significant visual evidence of the site as it stood in 1722, recording subsequently lost fabric, including the late twelfth-century cloister arcades, the tracery of the main windows of the abbey, the presbytery arcades and high altar enclosure. Engravings by George Vertue after Samuel Buck. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1723. Current location: Fountains Abbey remains a popular tourist site today in Yorkshire, UK.
Plates 1.9-1.12 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the ruins of the twelfth-century abbey church of Fountains, Yorkshire, with extant monastic structures. The images offer significant visual evidence of the site as it stood in 1722, recording subsequently lost fabric, including the late twelfth-century cloister arcades, the tracery of the main windows of the abbey, the presbytery arcades and high altar enclosure. Engravings by George Vertue after Samuel Buck. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1723. Current location: Fountains Abbey remains a popular tourist site today in Yorkshire, UK.
Plates 1.9-1.12 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the ruins of the twelfth-century abbey church of Fountains, Yorkshire, with extant monastic structures. The images offer significant visual evidence of the site as it stood in 1722, recording subsequently lost fabric, including the late twelfth-century cloister arcades, the tracery of the main windows of the abbey, the presbytery arcades and high altar enclosure. Engravings by George Vertue after Samuel Buck. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1723. Current location: Fountains Abbey remains a popular tourist site today in Yorkshire, UK.
Plates 1.9-1.12 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the ruins of the twelfth-century abbey church of Fountains, Yorkshire, with extant monastic structures. The images offer significant visual evidence of the site as it stood in 1722, recording subsequently lost fabric, including the late twelfth-century cloister arcades, the tracery of the main windows of the abbey, the presbytery arcades and high altar enclosure. Engravings by George Vertue after Samuel Buck. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1723. Current location: Fountains Abbey remains a popular tourist site today in Yorkshire, UK.
Plates 1.13-1.14 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the fourteenth-century monastic gatehouse of St Benet’s at Holme, cumulatively creating a panoramic survey of the gatehouse as it stood in the early 1720s. The gatehouse was already ruinous when these plates were published and was substantially dismantled by about 1730. Engravings by George Vertue after drawings by John Kirkpatrick and Edmund Prideaux. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1724. Current location: Kirkpatrick's drawing can be found in the Norwich, Norfolk Record Office (MS Rye 17:6, p. 1). The ruins of St Benet's abbey remain in Norfolk, UK.
Plates 1.13-1.14 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the fourteenth-century monastic gatehouse of St Benet’s at Holme, cumulatively creating a panoramic survey of the gatehouse as it stood in the early 1720s. The gatehouse was already ruinous when these plates were published and was substantially dismantled by about 1730. Engravings by George Vertue after drawings by John Kirkpatrick and Edmund Prideaux. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1724. Current location: Kirkpatrick's drawing can be found in the Norwich, Norfolk Record Office (MS Rye 17:6, p. 1). The ruins of St Benet's abbey remain in Norfolk, UK.
Plate 1.15 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the late fifteenth-or early sixteenth-century chest tomb of Robert Colles with paneled sides around which runs the inscription “Robart Colles Cecili his vif.” The drawing imaginatively transposes the crowned letters of the inscription into an enlarged framework that surrounds the image of the tomb. Engraving by George Vertue after Edmund Prideaux. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1724. Current location: The tomb resides in its original location in the churchyard of Holy Innocents, Foulsham, Norfolk, UK.
Plate 1.16 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the thirteenth-century shrine base and feretory of St Edward at Westminster Abbey. It is the first two-page image in Vetusta Monumenta. The larger format reflects the elaborate artistry of the monument itself and the importance of Edward the Confessor in the historiographical imagination of eighteenth-century English antiquaries. Engraving by George Vertue after John Talman. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1724. Current location: The shrine remains in its original location in Westminster Abbey, London, UK.
Plates 1.17-1.19 of Vetusta Monumenta depict two gatehouses built for Henry VIII along the road through Whitehall Palace: the so-called “Holbein Gate,” completed in 1532, and the King Street Gate, completed circa 1548. Engravings by George Vertue after his own drawings. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1725. Current location: Both gatehouses were demolished. The "Holbein Gate" was demolished in 1723, and the King Street Gate was demolished in 1759.
Plates 1.17-1.19 of Vetusta Monumenta depict two gatehouses built for Henry VIII along the road through Whitehall Palace: the so-called “Holbein Gate,” completed in 1532, and the King Street Gate, completed circa 1548. Engravings by George Vertue after his own drawings. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1725. Current location: Both gatehouses were demolished. The "Holbein Gate" was demolished in 1723, and the King Street Gate was demolished in 1759.
Plates 1.17-1.19 of Vetusta Monumenta depict two gatehouses built for Henry VIII along the road through Whitehall Palace: the so-called “Holbein Gate,” completed in 1532, and the King Street Gate, completed circa 1548. Engravings by George Vertue after his own drawings. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1725. Current location: Both gatehouses were demolished. The "Holbein Gate" was demolished in 1723, and the King Street Gate was demolished in 1759.
Plate 1.20 from Vetusta Monumenta depicts one coin and five medals: a silver crown of Henry VIII (c. 1545), a Coronation Medal of Edward VI (1547), a unique copy of the "Dangers Averted" or "Armada Medal" of Elizabeth I (1589), the Phoenix Jewel (c. 1570-1580) of Elizabeth I along with the motto from a silver medal of the same (1574), and a struck gold medal of James I commemorating the Peace with Spain (1604). Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings, completed in at least three states between 1723 and 1731. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1731. Current locations: the coin of Henry VIII is currently in the collections of the University of Oxford. The Phoenix Jewel (SLMisc.1778), an example of the 1574 silver medal of Elizabeth I (M.6902), and an example of the 1604 gold medal of James I (1844,0425.24) are in the British Museum. The originals of the Coronation Medal of Edward IV and the 1588 medal of Elizabeth I here engraved are now lost.
Plates 1.21-1.26 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the West Minster Tournament Roll, a sixty-foot vellum roll that illustrates the jousting tournament organized by Henry VIII on 12 and 13 February 1511, along with an excerpt from the “Westminster Tournament Challenge” (Harley 83 H1, now in the British Library). Engravings by George Vertue from copies of the manuscripts made either by himself or by another draftsman for this purpose. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1726. Current locations: The Westminster Tournament Roll remains in the College of Arms, London; the Westminster Tournament Challenge is in the British Library (Harley 83 H), London, UK.
Plates 1.21-1.26 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the West Minster Tournament Roll, a sixty-foot vellum roll that illustrates the jousting tournament organized by Henry VIII on 12 and 13 February 1511, along with an excerpt from the “Westminster Tournament Challenge” (Harley 83 H1, now in the British Library). Engravings by George Vertue from copies of the manuscripts made either by himself or by another draftsman for this purpose. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1726. Current locations: The Westminster Tournament Roll remains in the College of Arms, London; the Westminster Tournament Challenge is in the British Library (Harley 83 H), London, UK.
Plates 1.21-1.26 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the West Minster Tournament Roll, a sixty-foot vellum roll that illustrates the jousting tournament organized by Henry VIII on 12 and 13 February 1511, along with an excerpt from the “Westminster Tournament Challenge” (Harley 83 H1, now in the British Library). Engravings by George Vertue from copies of the manuscripts made either by himself or by another draftsman for this purpose. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1726. Current locations: The Westminster Tournament Roll remains in the College of Arms, London; the Westminster Tournament Challenge is in the British Library (Harley 83 H), London, UK.
Plates 1.21-1.26 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the West Minster Tournament Roll, a sixty-foot vellum roll that illustrates the jousting tournament organized by Henry VIII on 12 and 13 February 1511, along with an excerpt from the “Westminster Tournament Challenge” (Harley 83 H1, now in the British Library). Engravings by George Vertue from copies of the manuscripts made either by himself or by another draftsman for this purpose. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1726. Current locations: The Westminster Tournament Roll remains in the College of Arms, London; the Westminster Tournament Challenge is in the British Library (Harley 83 H), London, UK.
Plates 1.21-1.26 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the West Minster Tournament Roll, a sixty-foot vellum roll that illustrates the jousting tournament organized by Henry VIII on 12 and 13 February 1511, along with an excerpt from the “Westminster Tournament Challenge” (Harley 83 H1, now in the British Library). Engravings by George Vertue from copies of the manuscripts made either by himself or by another draftsman for this purpose. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1726. Current locations: The Westminster Tournament Roll remains in the College of Arms, London; the Westminster Tournament Challenge is in the British Library (Harley 83 H), London, UK.
Plates 1.21-1.26 of Vetusta Monumenta depict the West Minster Tournament Roll, a sixty-foot vellum roll that illustrates the jousting tournament organized by Henry VIII on 12 and 13 February 1511, along with an excerpt from the “Westminster Tournament Challenge” (Harley 83 H1, now in the British Library). Engravings by George Vertue from copies of the manuscripts made either by himself or by another draftsman for this purpose. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1726. Current locations: The Westminster Tournament Roll remains in the College of Arms, London; the Westminster Tournament Challenge is in the British Library (Harley 83 H), London, UK.