John Blagrave (c.1561-1611)
| Month: | August 2025 |
|---|---|
| Type: | Wall monument |
| Era: | 17th Century |
Visit this monument
St Lawrence
The Forbury,
Reading. RG1 3EJ
More about this monument
The tomb of a leading mathematician of the seventeenth century has been restored and repainted – perhaps not altogether accurately.
The church of St Lawrence in Reading was hit during a bombing raid on 10 February 1942. 41 people were killed, many more injured, whilst the church was damaged. It is possible that the Blagrave monument was marred too but if so, it was not until 1964 that it was repaired and re‑painted.
The monument is affixed to the nave south wall, some three metres above floor level, and comprises a half-length effigy set in a book-lined tabernacle, surrounded by allegorical figures that carry geometrical symbols. An antependium includes a plaque, suspended from a fictive rope looped through rings at each top corner, which is inscribed with an effusive eulogy. To either side are black-faced cherubs heads, whilst beneath in the bottom corners can be seen the mathematical instruments reflecting Blagrave’s scholarly interests. Either side of the plaque are skulls framed with blackened laurel wreaths.
Blagrave gazes out at us as if from his book-lined study, in his hands a globe and quadrant resting on a desk, about to lecture on one of his favourite mathematical topics. He was famed in his day for his work as a mathematician, and author of several books, amongst them The Mathematical Jewel, which was particularly well received. More details of his work can be found here https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2022/11/09/the-mathematical-ievvel/.
An undated antiquarian sketch of the monument, by an unnamed draughtsman, reveals details of the monument that are now lost. The reclining figures laid on the broken pediment once held feathery quills, along with their individual geometric object, one of the Platonic solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and isosedron – respectively, 6, 4, 8, 12 and 20 sided). Blagrave’s ‘desk’ appears originally to have been covered in a cloth, whilst symbols on the back wall of the setting have vanished.
He was a student at St John’s College, Oxford, but – for unknown reasons – did not take his degree, yet he appears to be dressed in scholarly garb. Alex Kerr explained that “the gown on the monument is of the ‘lay’ (rather than clerical) style, with sleeves hanging behind the arms, prominent wings above the shoulder openings and facings that continue up over the shoulders to form a flap collar behind the neck. This style seems regularly to have been termed a ‘frock’ in this period. It was prescribed at Oxford in the early 17th century in particular for undergraduates who were later be known as commoners and gentleman-commoners. This stye of gown was worn by laymen of high status, such as Sir Henry Savill, Warden of Merton College, as may be seen in both his portrait and also his effigy on his funeral monument.” (Kerr pers. comm.)
There is some dispute as to who made the monument. Katherine Esdaile proposed in 1942 that it should be attributed to Gerard Christmas. However, Adam White rejected this in his 1999 survey of London tomb sculptors, but without offering an alternative maker. This type of monument, termed a demi-figure setting by Kemp, is infrequently encountered, with perhaps fourteen such settings recorded. They date to the first quarter of the seventeenth century, the best known is that of William Shakespeare (White 2010). At least four of these can be attributed to Nicholas Stone, two to Maximillian Colt and one to Garret-Johnson. It would seem entirely feasible that the Blagrave monument emerged from one of the London workshops.
The monument was repaired and re-painted by Inger Norholt, the Danish conservator, in 1960. This was her eighth commission, out of around 70, thus quite early in her career as a conservator. Nevertheless, her trademark penchant for changing details of colours and the over application of gold leaf are present here. As Kerr has pointed out, the facings to Blagrave’s costume shows a pattern that suggests fur, meaning that the bright red colouring is certainly incorrect. The darkened background is also likely to be a Norholt invention. Was there really this much gold on the monument originally? It is also evident that she used gloss paint on this setting, a practice for which she was criticised. Her work elsewhere – for example on the Bryges monument at Ludgershall (Wilts), the Oxenbridge monument at Hurstbourne Priors (Hants) and the Langton chapel vault, in Winchester cathedral (Hants) all demonstrate her propensity to change the colour scheme and her use of the wrong types of paint.
Nicholas Riall
Esdaile, K, 1942, ‘English sculpture in some Berkshire churches’, Berkshire Archaeological Journal, iii, 46, 22-27.
Kemp, B, 1980, English Church Monuments.
Kerr, A. 2021, ‘Different forms of gowns for all sorts of scholars in their several ranks: Academic Undress at Oxford in 1635’, Transactions of the Burgon Society, 20, 14-50.
Riall, N. 2021, ‘The Brydges monument in St James’ church, Ludgershall (Wiltshire): Marian Renascent or neo-classical Elizabethan?’, Church Monuments, XXXVI, 2021, 10-47.
Riall, N. ‘High Renaissance Tudor monuments in Hampshire and the influence of Sebastiano Serlio: the Oxenbridge tomb at Hurstbourne Priors’, Hampshire Studies, 77, 111-138.
Riall, N. 2024, ‘New Discoveries in the Langton Chapel of Winchester Cathedral: 16th-Century all’antica Innovation and 20th-Century Restoration’ J British Archaeological Association, 177, 131-158.
White, A, ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Tomb Sculptors c.1560 – c.1660’, Walpole Society, 61 (1999), 1-162.
White, A, 2010, ‘William Shakespeare’s monument’, Monument of the Month, Church Monuments Society, March.
