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Vetusta Monumenta: Ancient Monuments, a Digital Edition

Volume 2, Plates 1 — 20

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Plates 2.1-2.2 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce three plans for rebuilding the city of London after the great fire of 1666. The plans were originally submitted to King Charles II in September of 1666 and February of 1668 by John Evelyn and Christopher Wren. Engravings by George Vertue after the original plans by Evelyn and Wren. 478 x 355 mm and 486 x 353 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1747. Current location: Society of Antiquaries of London. Drawings: Volume 1 [196h], fols. 68-69.
Plates 2.1-2.2 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce three plans for rebuilding the city of London after the great fire of 1666. The plans were originally submitted to King Charles II in September of 1666 and February of 1668 by John Evelyn and Christopher Wren. Engravings by George Vertue after the original plans by Evelyn and Wren. 478 x 355 mm and 486 x 353 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1747. Current location: Society of Antiquaries of London. Drawings: Volume 1 [196h], fols. 68-69.
Plate 2.3 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduces a portrait (c. 1731-1733) of George Holmes, a founding member of the Society of Antiquaries and dedicated Deputy Keeper of the Tower of London. The engraving augments the original oil painting by depicting a more mature Holmes surrounded by objects symbolic of his intellectual and professional pursuits. Engraving by George Vertue after Richard van Bleeck. 332 x 215 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1750. Current location: The original portrait now hangs in the Fellows Room of the Society of Antiquaries of London, London, UK.
Plate 2.4 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts two early- to mid-fourteenth-century deeds and three seals, which confirm land charters related to ecclesiastical establishments in Yorkshire. 478 x 318 mm. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1751. Current locations: Rawlinson’s collection passed to the Bodleian Library and to St. John’s and Hertford Colleges, Oxford University, UK.
Plate 2.5 of Vetusta Monumenta is the first of three depictions of the Savoy engraved for Volume II. This plate presents a picturesque view of the Savoy Hospital from across the river Thames and records the state of the site in 1736, before it was mostly destroyed by fire in 1776. The drawing was made at the same time as the drawings for Plates 2.12 and 2.14. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. 314 x 463 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1750. Current location: The only surviving building of the Savoy Hospital is the Hospital Chapel, now The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, London, UK.
Plate 2.6 reproduces the death warrant dated 29 January 1649 for executing Charles I, who was publicly beheaded the following day outside of the Banqueting House at Whitehall. Handwritten on parchment and bearing fifty-nine signatures with accompanying seals, the warrant was in the possession of Charles I’s executioner from 1649 until 31 July 1660 when, following the Restoration of Charles II, the House of Lords confiscated the warrant and used it to identify the individuals who had authorized Charles I’s execution. On 1 June 1749, James West (1703-1722) alerted the Society of Antiquaries of London “that the original Instrument and order, signed and Sealed for the taking off King Charles First’s Head”—which had been housed in the Parliamentary Archives since 1660—“was to be seen,” likely as a consequence of the centennial anniversary of the regicide. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawing. 418 x 484 mm (bifolium). Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1750. Current Location: The warrant has remained in the House of Lords Record Office in the Parliamentary Archives ever since its confiscation in 1660 (Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/1/297A), London, UK.
Plate 2.7 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts a range of objects that find commonality in their association with St. Edmund the Martyr. The central image of the Church of St. Andrew, Greensted, Essex, is rendered along with the burial shrine of St. Edmund and a seal fragment from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, both in Suffolk. Engraving by George Vertue after Smart Lethieullier and John Lydgate. 312 x 447 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1752. Current location: The church still stands in Greensted, Essex, UK; the shrine of St. Edmund was destroyed during the Reformation and the abbey was suppressed, but its ruins may still be seen in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK; the seal fragment is attached to MS Add. Charter 17226 in the British Library, London, UK.
Plate 2.8 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the Gloucester Cross, framed by scaled-up images of the sculptures of English kings and queens that were located in the niches of the second story. By including the town hall and other buildings in the background and staffage figures in the foreground, the print emphasizes the civic importance of this fourteenth-century market cross. Engraving by George Vertue after Thomas Ricketts. 441 x 295 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1751. Current location: Originally in Gloucester, UK, the cross was demolished in 1751.
Plate 2.9 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts three fourth-century CE Roman mosaic pavements discovered in North Lincolnshire in 1699 and 1747. Figures I-III depict two large nearly intact pavements, the Ceres and Orpheus Pavements, with a related fragment, all discovered at Winterton in 1747. Figure IV shows a fragment of a large geometric mosaic discovered nearby at Roxby in 1699. Engraving by George Vertue after Charles Mitley. 441 x 591 mm (bifolium). Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1752. Current locations: Some fragments of the Orpheus Pavement are in the North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, UK; the Ceres Pavement has been reconstructed and is on display at University Campus North Lincolnshire, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, UK; and fragments of the Roxby pavement remain buried in situ at Roxby, Lincolnshire, UK.
Plate 2.10 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the Doncaster Cross, which was erected in honor of Otho de Tilly, land steward to the count of nearby Conisborough from about 1165 to 1188. The dense text on either side of the cross relates a brief history of Otho de Tilly, the cross itself, and the manner in which the Society acquired the painting on which this engraving is based. Engraving by George Vertue after an anonymous early seventeenth-century painting. 509 mm x 300 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1752. Current location: The original cross in Doncaster, UK, was demolished in 1792 but was replaced by a replica ex-situ the following year.
Plate 2.11 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts Sandal Castle as it appeared in the sixteenth century. Engraving by George Vertue after a drawing originally produced for a survey of the properties of the Duchy of Lancaster conducted by the Chancellor of the Duchy, Ambrose Cave, in 1561. Further drawings from this cache were engraved as Plates 1.39, 1.40, 1.41, 1.42, 1.44, 1.46, and 2.13. 307 x 461 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1753. Current location: The lower courses of the barbican, foundations of some of the towers, the base of the keep, and fragments of walls from the great hall and kitchen can still be seen in Sandal Magna, West Yorkshire, UK.
Plate 2.12 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the prison and chapel buildings in the Savoy Hospital complex as they stood in 1736. The Hospital Chapel, depicted from two different sides in the lower half and the upper right portion of this plate, is the only Savoy building that survives today. The drawings were made at the same time as the drawings for Plates 2.5 and 2.14. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. 459 x 334 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1753. Current location: The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, London, UK.
Plate 2.13 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts Clithero Castle as it appeared in the sixteenth century. Engraving by George Vertue after a drawing originally produced for a survey of the properties of the Duchy of Lancaster conducted by the Chancellor of the Duchy, Ambrose Cave, in 1561. This concludes the sequence of eight drawings of castles preserved in the Office of the Duchy of Lancaster, including Plates 1.39, 1.40, 1.41, 1.42, 1.44, 1.46, and 2.11. 317 x 466 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1753. Current location: The ruined stone keep and parts of the curtain wall remain along with buildings that were added in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK.
Plate 2.14 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduces an annotated ground plan of the various buildings comprising the Savoy Hospital as they stood in 1736. This plan concludes the sequence of views of these buildings presented in Plates 2.5 and 2.12. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. 479 x 356 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1754. Current location: The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, London, UK.
Plates 2.15-2.16 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce two images from a twelfth-century manuscript, the Eadwine Psalter. The first is a plan of the monastery precinct at Christ Church, Canterbury, including Canterbury Cathedral as it stood prior to 1174. The second plate reproduces an author portrait of Eadwine of Canterbury, after whom the entire manuscript is named. Engravings by George Vertue after drawings of the manuscript made at Cambridge in 1753 by an unknown draftsman. 590 x 465 mm (bifolium) and 342 x 225 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1755. Current location: The rebuilt cathedral and some architectural remains of Christ Church Priory are at Canterbury, Kent, UK; the Eadwine Psalter is at Trinity College (MS R.17.1), Cambridge University, UK.
Plates 2.15-2.16 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce two images from a twelfth-century manuscript, the Eadwine Psalter. The first is a plan of the monastery precinct at Christ Church, Canterbury, including Canterbury Cathedral as it stood prior to 1174. The second plate reproduces an author portrait of Eadwine of Canterbury, after whom the entire manuscript is named. Engravings by George Vertue after drawings of the manuscript made at Cambridge in 1753 by an unknown draftsman. 590 x 465 mm (bifolium) and 342 x 225 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1755. Current location: The rebuilt cathedral and some architectural remains of Christ Church Priory are at Canterbury, Kent, UK; the Eadwine Psalter is at Trinity College (MS R.17.1), Cambridge University, UK.
Plate 2.17 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts a Roman lamp, an amphora-style vase, and two hand bells from 1366 (left) and 1547 (right). Engraving by George Vertue (his last for Vetusta Monumenta) after his own drawings. 455 x 300 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1756. Current locations: The lamp, vase, and bell on the right are all untraced, but the bell on the left is in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London (LDSAL 133), London, UK.
Plate 2.19 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the third conventual seal of Canterbury Cathedral (13th century) and a segment of a wooden mantelpiece from a house in Saffron Walden featuring carved images and letters (16th century). The plate itself contains commentary on the objects in cursive script. Engraving by James Green after drawings provided by John Ward. 444 x 303 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1758. Current locations: Impressions of the seal are located at National Archives, Kew, UK, and the British Library, London, UK; the mantelpiece remains in situ in the house in Saffron Walden, Essex, UK.
Plate 2.20 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts two silver arm rings and three bronze horns from Ireland, a fifteenth-century buckler from Wales, and a Viking Age brooch from the Western Isles of Scotland. This engraving documents a conscious effort by the Society of Antiquaries to systematize graphic practices in antiquarian illustration. Engraving by James Basire Sr. after his own drawings. 459 x 330 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1763. Current locations: The arm rings, buckler, and brooch (Canmore ID 10515) are untraced, as is the first horn. The two remaining horns (Figs. IV-V) are in the collection at Mount Edgcumbe House, Cornwall, UK.