Medieval wall mural reveals its secrets
The history of medieval women at Rochester Cathedral begins to become clearer. Research into a medieval wall painting suggests it might be a unique survival from the 13th or 14th century.
Faded away on the east wall of the South Nave Transept is a highly unusual painting dating to between 1240 - 1349. It shows a man and woman kneeling in prayer. It is the woman who is gazing out of the mural over what would have been a raised altar in this area, suggesting she is the patron of this painting and this space, once a Lady Chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. We don’t yet know who she is but it is remarkable for a woman at this time to have a such big impact on the Cathedral.
The other extraordinary thing about this painting, which we can see more clearly in a watercolour reconstruction from the 1920s by Professor Ernest William Tristram, is that the entire mural is comprised almost entirely of female saints and martyrs, including Mary herself. Many are too faded to identify but of the ones we can are Catherine of Alexandria and Margaret of Antioch. This is a wall of women – possibly a unique survival for a cathedral in England.
Watercolour reconstruction from the 1920s by Professor Ernest William Tristram.
Thank you to Bishop’s Chaplain Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff for highlighting this incredible painting. Read more about this fascinating discover over on our Virtual Cathedral Project page:
Bishop’s Chaplain Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff discusses the medieval Lady Chapel mural in an extract from the Bertha's Daughters: A History of the Church in Kent