Church Monuments Society

The principal point of interest regarding this funeral monument is its lively rendition of Christ rising from His tomb, stepping back into the world over four sleeping Roman soldiers. Although this is a familiar story to many, the role of the guards is described only once in the Bible. This is largely echoed in Christian art. The Index of Christian Art shows that the resurrection of Christ is depicted more than 500 times, yet the presence of Roman soldiers can be found only sixteen times amongst miniatures, paintings and prints. However, there are nine carved settings featuring the soldiers to be found in English churches, all of them part of Easter sepulchres, along with a number of alabaster carvings of this episode.

The Easter sepulchre at Holcombe Burnell was most likely the last to be created, this because it displays a mixture of the late Gothic and early Renaissance styles, thus we can date the setting to the approximately 1525-40. Whilst the setting carries six shields that might once have informed us for whom the monument was erected, these are today all devoid of any colour or inscription. Nevertheless, the lords of the manor in this period were the Denys family. This leads us to suggest that the patron was Sir Thomas Denys, MP whose first wife, Anne, had died sometime before July 1524, the date he married his second wife, Elizabeth Donne.

Beatrix Creswell, writing in the early 20^th century, was of the view that this setting was fundamentally a Gothic structure that was altered at a later date with Renaissance details added to a pre-existing structure (Creswell 1912, 97). Whilst it is possible that the panels in the recess were intruded at a later date, the workmanship of the spandrels is such that the Renaissance details here can only be contemporaneous with the major part of the edifice, so too the cornice. The shields with supporting mermen are sufficiently similar to the spandrels to allow them also be part of the original structure. The central panel in the recess is another matter entirely, as we will see below.

The introduction of Renaissance work into English settings in the earlier 16^th century often produced awkward mishmashes of Gothic/Perpendicular work onto which early forms of the Renaissance style were applied. This has excised and annoyed purist commentators for a considerable time who dislike the inappropriate application of Classical styles to Gothic settings. This is demonstrated graphically in this setting, which is framed by Perpendicular posts, complete with crocketed pinnacles and simple tracery. The tomb chest carries a frontal sub-divided into geometric quadrants filled with cusped tracery, upon which are superimposed now blank shields. This is capped by a dado along which are arranged a series of fluerons, mostly of a religious nature, but with a fouled anchor amongst them. A second series, forming a frieze, can be seen above the tomb recess. Spanning the opening above the tomb chest is a crocketed ogee arch, very heavily carved, with spandrels above filled with Renaissance-style motifs in the form of winged putti.

Before turning to the central carving, of the Resurrection, note should be made of the former presence of two kneeling figures of women, both dressed with ruffs, that have long since been removed. These may, suggested George Oliver in 1840, have been placed as memorials to Elizabeth Denys, widow of Sir Thomas, and their daughter Mary (Oliver 1840, 48-9).

We come now to the central carving, an enchantment in stone, and an excellent reason to visit this church, for the carving of this Resurrection scene is of astonishing quality. Oliver had little to say of the tomb, but Creswell was more forthcoming, stating that in her view that the carving ‘is in a great measure a restoration; it was probably much defaced when the tomb was used as a memorial to the Dennis [sic] family’ (Creswell 1912, 97). Whilst there are indications of some restoration work here and there on this tablet, the majority of the carving appears to be both original and intact. There are nevertheless some difficulties with this tablet. It is quite obvious that the quality of the carving on this scene is far, far better than that to be seen across the monument as a whole; clearly different hands created the panel to those who worked on the monument.

The carving presents to us a stunning, and vivid, image of the moment that Christ having risen from his tomb steps out in the world through the sleeping bodies of the Roman soldiers sent to guard His tomb. This episode in Christ’s life can be found solely in the account provided by Matthew, who wrote a fairly extensive description of the posting of the guards and how they slept whilst Christ rose from the dead (Matthew 27, 62-65; Matthew 28, 1-15).

Princeton University’s Index of Medieval Art lists over five hundred pieces of art, in multiple media, that depict the Resurrection, of which the presence of soldiers is represented only sixteen times (Patton 2017). It is likely that such depictions present in Easter sepulchres across England, of which there are at least nine, may not all have been included in this list. Nonetheless, the Princeton listing underlines the limited appearances of this scene, thereby making the Holcombe Burnell depiction of some importance. But who carved it and where?

There have been a number of suggestions that the carving is not of English origin. As previously adumbrated this was long ago pointed out by Beatrix Creswell, however this does not take account of the position of the man who most likely commissioned the piece: Sir Thomas Denys. His biographical entry in The History of Parliament reveals that he trained as a lawyer before embarking of a highly successful career that linked the royal court, city of London and county of Devon. He served as chamberlain in the household of Thomas Wolsey by 1524, having served Wolsey from least 1515 in other capacities, then as comptroller in the household of Princess Mary by 1526, and amongst a long list of commissions eventually found himself appointed chancellor to the household of Anne of Cleves in 1540. Inter alia he served as the Member of Parliament for Devon (Kirk and Hawkward 1982). It is clear that Denys was a man who moved in the uppermost circles of society, thereby having access to all manner of luxurious goods, amongst them works of art. It is no stretch of the imagination to suggest that he may well have commissioned the Resurrection scene from a London atelier, to be shipped down to Devon and installed in his local church. The quality of the work and its design points to a sculptor of considerable ability, a man who may well have been working in Southwark, the area where so‑called ‘alien’ craftsmen were required to be domiciled, amongst them a large community of Flemings. The sculpture displays a feel of Flemish or Low Countries workmanship, and as such compares well with pieces such as a similar scene, carved in wood, now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. An intriguing point is that the sculptor, or patron, chose to depict the Roman soldiers in armour that is not contemporary, the soldier at the bottom right of the scene clearly shown with a Roman-style cuirass. One may note also that the soldier at bottom left grasps a halberd – this weapon featured in the Denys coat-of-arms and is surely a pointer to the patron.

Easter Sepulchres in England featuring soldiers can be seen at:

Holcombe Burnell (Devon), South Pool (Devon), Heckington, (Lincolnshire), Navenby (Lincolnshire), Northwold (Norfolk), Hawton (Nottinghamshire), Sibthorpe (Nottinghamshire), West Wittering (West Sussex), Patrington (East Riding of Yorkshire).

Bibliography:

Creswell, B F 1912, Notes on the churches of the Deanery of Kenn, Devon, Commin: Exeter.

Devonchurchland 2020, Holcombe Burnell Church of St John the Baptist, Description, accessed on-line https://devonchurchland.co.uk/description/holcombe-burnell-church-of-st-john-the-baptist-description/

Historic England, Church of St John the Baptist, listed building entry, accessed online https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1215659

Kirk, L M and Hawkyard, A D K 1982, ‘Denys, Sir Thomas (by 1477-1561), of Holcombe Burnell and Bicton, Devon and London’, in S T Bindoff (ed), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, Boydell and Brewer, accessed online http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1509-1558/member/denys-sir-thomas-1477-1561

Oliver, G 1840, Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Devon, Featherstone: Exeter

Patton, P 2017, ‘Observations about the soldiers guarding the tomb of Christ’, Index of Medieval Art, Princeton University.

Nicholas Riall

Gallery

• The whole tomb and surround
• The central panel depicting the Resurrection
• The right spandrel of the canopy
• The Resurrection panel from the right side, showing detail of the soldiers
• The left spandrel
• The Resurrection panel viewed from the left