Joel O’Flaherty and Johnty Robinson-Stanier
This rare medieval textile is a set of priest’s robes embroidered with figures of saints. At the Reformation, robes of this sort were condemned due to the Protestant attack on the vestments which appeared to attribute the priests a special status as intermediaries between the laity and God. But rather than discard this one, the thrifty parishioners of St Mary Arches unpicked the offending figures which now appear as blank shadows, then cut the cloth into strips and re-assembled the pieces as a pall, which was a cover for the coffin. The detail and artistic quality of the piece is evident, perhaps suggesting why the parishioners decided to recycle the robes, as it would be a shame to destroy such an item that required such skill to produce.
Interestingly, not all of the saints have been removed, it is not clear as to why this is the case. It could be simply that the creator did not have time to replace all of the figures, or that they would not be visible when the pall was in use. The identities of many of the saints is also a mystery, due to the tempering, however, the airbrushed figure from the centre of the pall is clearly the figure of Christ on the crucifix. The removal of Christ is clear evidence of the attack on abused images being enforced. This would suggest that they were subject to the waves of iconoclasm that occurred in England from the reign of Edward VI onwards, peaking again around the Civil Wars.
The object also highlights how successful the visitations were at removing abused images, as the enforcing power of the visitors reached into the far corners of the country and rather than being hidden away, these robes were permanently altered to align with the doctrine of the new religion. It could go so far as to suggesting an ideological break for the people of Exeter with traditional assumptions about the powers of the saints. At the very least it displays a shift in church practices where the status of the priest was diminished to that of an ordinary teacher. However, the remnants of a select number of saints could suggest that the idea of the power of saints was a comforting one, certainly a deep-rooted one, and one that had not yet been fully eradicated.










