The original Charing Cross supported by two bishops, after Henry Peacham 1807
£45
SKU: P-7-027636
[Charing Cross in disrepair]
An evocative image and account of the original Charing Cross, tracing its origins as the last and most renowned of the Eleanor crosses erected by Edward I, and its symbolic destruction during the English Civil War. The image derives from a rare 1641 allegorical tract by Henry Peacham (writing under an anagram), which dramatises the threatened fall of Charing Cross—already in a state of disrepair at the time—through a fictional dialogue between it and Cheap Cross. A woodcut illustration shows two bishops supporting the cross, one exclaiming “Helpe Wren, or we are undone men,” and the other replying, “It shall not fall, To ruine all.” The name Wren likely refers to Dr. Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely (1638–1667), a Royalist and ally of Archbishop Laud, symbolising the religious and political tensions of the era. The tract captures the Puritan hostility to royalist monuments and the deep cultural resonance of their destruction.
Size 24 x 17 cm | 9.5 x 6.5 inches
Date Published: [Published June 9th 1807]
Type: Antique engraving
Author: After Henry Peacham (writing in anagram as Ryhen Pameach)
Publication: The Antiquities of Westminster
Condition: Good |
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