Church of St Mary, Chalgrove - wall paintings

Image: © Alan Murray-Rust Taken: 9 Jul 2014

A section of the south wall of the chancel. The scenes depict part of the Golden Legend, a series of apocryphal incidents from the life of Mary. In chronological sequence they are: Bottom right - Mary receives a palm from Paradise from an Angel. Bottom centre - Mary praying for deliverance from the Evil One. Bottom left - lost due to the insertion of the later monument. Middle right - Mary, attended by women neighbours (right) announces her impending death to the Apostles. Middle left - Mary's death, Christ in the centre blesses her soul which is carried away by two angels. Upper right - the funeral procession, during which Jewish priests who try to disrupt it are struck blind or paralysed. To its left, St John, with the Virgin's palm, forgives and restores the paralysed High Priest and then shows the palm to the other blinded priests who can be cured if they will believe in Christ. They are depicted in caricature with long hooked noses, but it should be remembered that the paintings were created only some 25 years after the banishment of Jews from England in 1290.

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