English fourteenth-century interior polychromy: manuscript sources and workshop practice at Exeter Cathedral

Abstract

Exeter Cathedral is exceptionally fortunate to retain most of its Fabric Accounts, from 1279 onwards, and also the original polychromy on many of its fourteenth-century limestone roof-bosses and corbels; a few are in pristine condition, and even those with insoluble nineteenth-century overpaint retain much valuable information, revealed in cross-sections. During the conservation programme of 1976-82 many samples were taken, and were found to relate closely to the appropriate entries in the Fabric Rolls. The painters' working practice is closely linked to the different stages of construction of the building. One of the carvers at Exeter also worked at Wells Cathedral, on bosses which exhibit a different technique of polychromy. Evidence that can be established at Exeter may well throw light on less well-preserved and well-documented schemes of architectural polychromy elsewhere.