St Wulfran, Abbeville, detail of carved figures on south porch
John Ruskin
1868
Pencil, ink, wash, and bodycolur on paper
Collection: Ruskin Foundation
As early as 1853, in The Stones of Venice, Ruskin declared that St Wulfran's 'southern lateral door is one of the most exquisite pieces of flamboyant Gothic the world'. Its tall pointed arch surmounted by an elaborately carved gable is flanked by near life-size carvings of saints. Being of soft stone and in a damp climate, each statue, “instead of being freely expose to sun and storm, as in Greece — has its little canopy well projecting over it, and the niche becomes as important as the statue” — Stephen Wildman
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Formatting and text by George P. Landow