Heraldry as art: An account of its development and practice, chiefly in England

by G. W. Eve

Fig. 163.—Amorini Supporters from Venice.

Figures of Angels and Amorini that are not considered to have the technical qualification of heraldic supporters are of constant occurrence in ornamental art, and symbolical figures holding the shields of arms are posed in the spandrels of arches with admirable effect and perfect propriety, and the fact that symbolic figures are sometimes adopted as actual heraldic supporters can hardly be allowed to cramp decorative art in so important a particular, nevertheless the distinction should be recognized.

At Venice there is an admirably designed incised tablet in which Amorini stand beside the shield, each supporting on a pole one of the two large crests, Fig. 163; and the demi-angels which support the Royal Arms on the spandrels of the screen of Henry V. Chantry at Westminster, and the series of similar figures holding Badges in various parts of the Abbey should also be noted.

Another admirable work in which Amorini figure is the fine panel of the Arms of Cardinal Wolsey, which faces the Crown Court at Hampton Court Palace, Fig. 164, a work that is no less remarkable for the strength and bold relief of its heraldry than for the grace and beautiful modelling of the figures.

Under the head of supporters reference may also be made to the eagles, double or single-headed, on which in certain cases armorials are borne as a mark of special privilege. The arms of Princes and Peers of the Holy Roman Empire are borne on the double-headed Imperial Eagle, like those of the Duke of Marlborough as Prince of Mindelheim, as a privilege inherent in their rank. The single-headed eagle of the Kingdom of Prussia supports in a similar way the armorials of The Countess of Derby, to one of whose ancestors, Lord Carnarvon, Ambassador at Berlin at the end of the seventeenth century, the privilege was granted by Frederick William I. It therefore appears on her book plate, which I am permitted to reproduce here, Fig. 165.

Fig. 164.—Sculptured Arms of Cardinal Wolsey. Hampton Court Palace.

Other accessories consist of Crowns, Coronets, Insignia of Order of Knighthood, Mottoes, Symbols of Office, Medals or any other emblem of personal dignity or ornament.

The principal of these, the Imperial Crown, was, in its earliest form, a decorated circlet which was frequently of a most beautiful and elaborate character, but whose decoration, apart from its general form, had not acquired specific symbolic force, unless the fleur-de-lis that sometimes appeared as part of it may be so regarded. If so, it was probably introduced with the same idea of religious symbolism, as an emblem of the Resurrection, or of the Virgin Mary, or of the Trinity, which caused it to be used on sceptres and in other ways. The crowns of the early seals show traces of arches in some instances, but it was only in the time of Henry V that the crown, the one that succeeded the “golden care” of Shakespeare, finally became arched.

The number of the arches, as of the fleurs-de-lis and the crosses pattée that were added, varied from time to time, but since the restoration of Charles II the essential details have remained constant, though the general shape has changed with the contemporary taste in other ornament. A considerable variety of form is also found in the same period, the arches in Tudor times having sometimes the Gothic pointed character, as it appears in Fig. 166, on the reverse of the beautiful golden Bulla with which Henry VIII sealed the treaty of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In this instance it will be observed that the number of arches is doubled, and the fleurs-de-lis and crosses pattée proportionately increased. In a similar way the Scottish Royal Crown is represented with an unusually large number of crosses and fleurs-de-lis on the rim.