to have been encased in silk, or bound round with riband (vide fig. a): indeed the dress of both sexes is now distinguished by oriental character. The costume of England, to the close of the tenth century, had "more of the antique Roman than the Dane" in it. But the Normans had adopted the Saracenic and Byzantine fashions they found diffused through the south of Europe; and an English female of the twelfth century could scarcely have been distinguished, by her attire, from a lady of the Lower Empire, or indeed from a modern "maid of Athens."

CHAPTER VII.

REIGNS OF HENRY II., RICHARD I., AND JOHN, A. D. 1154-1216.

We have now arrived at a period when a new and most valuable source of information is opened for our assistance. The monumental effigies of the illustrious dead, sculptured in their habits as they lived, and in a style of art remarkable for so dark an age, many elaborately coloured and gilt, and all of the full size of the figure, take precedence of every other authority, until the paintings of Holbein and Vandyke appear to place the breathing originals before us.

The earliest monumental effigy of an English sovereign is that of Henry II. in the Abbey of Fontevraud, Normandy. A modern French writer, who states as his authorities MSS. preserved in the ecclesiastical archives, says, "the body of the unfortunate monarch vested in his royal habits, the crown of gold on his head and the sceptre in his hand, was placed on a bier richly ornamented, and borne in great state to the celebrated Abbey of Fontevraud, which he had chosen as the place of his interment, and there set in the nave of the great church, where he was buried." This account tallies with that of Matthew Paris, who says, "he was arrayed in the royal investments, having a golden crown on the head and gloves on the hands, boots wrought with gold on the feet, and spurs, a great ring on the finger and a sceptre in the hand, and girt with a sword; he lay with his face uncovered."

Effigies of Henry II. and his queen Eleanor, Richard I. and his queen Berengaria, in the Abbey of Fontevraud, Normandy; and of King John, from his monument in Worcester Cathedral."

“When we examine the effigy," observes the lamented Mr. Stothard, in his admirable work, the Monumental Effigies of Great Britain,'". we cannot fail of remarking, that it is already described by these two accounts; the only variation being in the sword, which is not girt, but lies on the bier, on the left side, with the belt twisted round it. It therefore appears the tomb was literally a representation of the deceased king, as if he still lay in state. Nor can we, without supposing such was the custom, otherwise account for the singular coincidence between the effigy of King John on the lid of his coffin and his body within it, when discovered a few years since1." We have quoted the precise words of this admirable and regretted artist, to whom the highest character for accuracy and research is universally accorded, in support of the opinion entertained by our best antiquaries in favour of the reliance to be placed upon monumental effigies, as correct portraits of the costume, and in many cases of the person of him whose tomb they surmount, because we are anxious not only to impress the reader with the truth of this belief, but at the same time to point out how deeply indebted are the artists and antiquaries of Europe to the perseverance, intelligence, and talent of the late Charles Alfred Stothard, untimely snatched from a profession of which he was an ornament, and in the midst of labours which have yet to be fully appreciated.

To return to the effigy of Henry II. The right hand, on which was the great ring, is broken, but contains a portion of the sceptre, which, to judge from certain marks on the breast of the figure, must have been remarkably short. The beard is painted and pencilled like a miniature, to represent its being closely shaven (the old Norman custom at this time 1 Monumental Effigies.

returned to). The mantle is fastened by a fibula on the right shoulder; its colour was originally (for it has been painted several times, as Mr. Stothard discovered by scraping it) of a deep reddish chocolate. The dalmatica or long tunic is crimson, starred or flowered with gold. The boots are green, with gold spurs fastened by red leathers. The gloves have jewels on the centre of the back of the hand, a mark of royalty or high ecclesiastical rank. The crown has been many years broken, and an injudicious attempt has been made to restore it with plaster of Paris. It is represented in our engraving without these modern additions, and above it is placed the crown as given by Montfaucon in his copy of the same effigy, which, though very inaccurately drawn and carelessly engraved, shows that it was surrounded with leaves, like that of Richard I. on his effigy in the same abbey. This latter effigy and that of King John at Worcester present the same general features, with very slight variation. Richard and John are both attired, like their father, in the dalmatica and mantle, with boots, spurs, and jewelled gloves. The dalmatica of John is shorter than those of Henry or Richard, and discovers more of the under tunic; it also appears to have been made fuller. Richard's mantle is fastened on the breast; John's depends from the shoulders, without any visible fastening, and discloses the jewelled collar of the dalmatica. Both are represented with beards and moustaches, which came again into fashion towards the close of Richard's reign. In the early part of it a seditious Londoner was called William with the Beard, from his obstinately wearing it in defiance of the old Norman custom, revived, as we have already stated, by Henry II.

From these effigies, and from the illuminated MSS. of the period, we learn, therefore, that