THE WALL PAINTINGS
The wall paintings in St Laurence Church date from the mid 14th century and are typical of many surviving medieval wall paintings in parish churches across the country. Churches would have been extensively, and colourfully, decorated with paintings, and many of the most popular themes can be seen in St Laurence Church.
Sources for images were commonly those found in Psalters and Books of Hours and a popular book of the time, The Golden Legend, written in c. 1267–1277, by Jacobus de Voragine. The book explores, and expands, the legends of Saints including those discussed below.
The original wall paintings, covered during the Reformation, remained unseen until 1892 when the Rector, the Revd Stephen Pearce, set about the work of restoration.
In England, after the Reformation and later Puritan rule, wall paintings, and other ornamentation, were seen as idolatrous and either overpainted or destroyed - as is the case in Combe. The Ten Commandments and the Creed (shown, i) were painted on top of the paintings in the sixteenth century. The other texts were added in the 1600s.
i. The Creed
The Lord’s Prayer
On the south wall of the nave is a text of the Ten Commandments flanked on either side by images of Moses and Aaron. This covers what would have been a very large painting of St Christopher crossing the river with Jesus on his shoulder.
The painting of St Christopher himself is no longer visible, but the paintings of river-creatures (shown) remain including a shark and an otter (i) and a mermaid (ii).
i. A shark and the head on otter
ii. A mermaid and a large fish
St Christopher was thought to give protection against sudden death and so an image of Christopher was traditionally placed on the wall facing the door and thus was the first image seen when entering the church. The person viewing the image would then not die unblessed in the following week.
The annunciation
Also, on the South side of the nave, towards the chancel, is part of a painting of the Annunciation (shown). The top of the head and wing of the Angel of the Annunciation can be seen along with a ribbon text stating AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM (Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee). Above the text can be seen part of a painting of the hand of God.
Over the chancel arch is the Last Judgement or Doom (below). Christ is seated on a rainbow in the centre of the painting with the apostles on either side. At the right hand of Christ, the blessed rise from their graves and are admitted to heaven, through St Peter who holds a key, while at his left sinners are driven into the mouth of hell by red devils with forks.
The sinners include a priest (with shaven head, upside down), a woman of easy virtue (with low-cut dress and horned headdress, upper centre) and a miller (with a sack, upside down).
The Apostles on the right (reading from the centre) are: St Paul (green, with sword and book); St James the Great (buff, in pilgrim’s dress); St Matthew (?) (red, with book); St Jude or St James the Less (green, carrying the base of a club; St Thomas (?) (white, carrying the base of a staff or spear); St Bartholomew (red, with knife).
On the left (reading from the centre) are St Andrew (red and white, with a cross in the shape of an X); St Matthew (?) (white, carrying a purse (?)); St John the Evangelist (green and red, with chalice and serpent); an unidentified figure (buff); an unidentified figure (green); St Peter (white and red, with cope and key).
The Last Judgement or Doom
On the nave-side of the chancel arch is a painting of the crucifixion (shown). There are very few medieval paintings of the crucifixion now remaining in parish churches. On either side of Christ on the cross are Mary the mother of Jesus and St John the Apostle. The painting would have formed a retable (or backcloth) to a side altar. Parts of the image are confusing to view, particularly the images of Mary and John - this is because a second painting of the crucifixion was painted over the present image.
It is possible to make out the image of a larger cross above the one viewed. Around the image of Jesus and the cross are fleurs-de-lis, most probably added in the post reformation period to over-paint and cover-up the image of the crucifixion.
In creating a wall painting the artists used a wide range of techniques for mixing and applying pigments to the plaster, even within a single painting. Applying a water-based pigment to wet plaster, known as fresco, caused the pigment to become bound to the plaster in the drying process (carbonation). Or an application of an oil and egg-bound pigment compounds applied to wet plaster, known as buon-fresco, was also used.
Several layers of different coloured pigment may be used to create the desired effect and there may be differences in pigments and the types of binding agents used within a single scheme. Early conservation used a lime-water wash to reveal the paintings. This, however, destroyed the surface of the image because of the lead-based pigments’ reaction to the alkaline solution.