Despenser Reredos

• Illustration — William Henry St John Hope's original photograph of the reredos (1898) The date the reredos was made, the reason for its commission, and its provenance, are not known for certain. It has been suggested from the existence of heraldic shields around the borders of the reredos that it was made as an act of thanksgiving following events in Norfolk during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, a conjecture first made by the English antiquarian William Henry St John Hope in 1898. Hope examined the surviving heraldry on the reredos, and suggested family names for seven of the shields. His analysis of the shields has since been reinterpreted by modern researchers; their findings may actually connect the reredos with the Peasants’ Revolt even more closely. Hope identified “clear traces” of the Despenser family arms on the frame, but his photograph of 1898 does not show it. His suggestion that the arms of Stephen Hales, who was captured by the rebels, is included on the reredos, is probably correct. According to Hope, the shields would have represented local families who had wanted to thank God for the defeat of the rebels at the Battle of North Walsham in June that year, most notably Henry le Despenser, who led the forces against them. It is possible that the reredos was commissioned by Despenser, an English nobleman and the Bishop of Norwich at the time of the Peasants' Revolt, as suggested by Hope, but the 1898 photograph lacks any evidence that Despenser's arms were ever represented on the reredos frame. The medievalist Sarah Beckwith has argued that the commission was directly related to the insurrection in the manner of an object lesson, suggesting that "the peasants who had dared, albeit abortively, to contest their ordained position in the social hierarchy and whose revolutionary gestures were based on an identification with Christ, are once again shown a story, a story they already know very well". However, a link with the revolt cannot be proven, and the heraldic shields may have been belonged to important Norfolk families who were represented because of a different association. The reredos could have been commissioned by Norwich Cathedral to mark the visit to the city by Richard II of England and his queen Anne of Bohemia in 1383. The reredos may have been dedicated in the presence of Richard, a possibility that is more likely if it was intended to be used for the cathedral's high altar. According to Tudor-Craig, the purpose of the heraldry on the reredos was to commemorate "not only those who contributed to the altarpiece itself, but those who had helped fund the reconstruction of the eastern arms of the church". There is no evidence from the cathedral's sacrist rolls for the period—or from any other sources—to suggest who paid for the reredos. The historian David King considers that “a collective donation by those represented in the heraldry” is the most like means by which the costs of the artefact were met.

The reredos is the cathedral's most important work of art. It is located behind the altar in St Luke’s Chapel. The painted scenes are on a wooden panel made from at least four planks, over which a frame was attached. The five scenes were separated by mullions, of which only one survives. Dowels were used to join the pieces. At least one of the upper planks is missing, as the top of the reredos was sawn off to make a rectangular bench top, and 10 cm squares of wood were removed from the reredos to allow for the construction of legs at the four corners. The original shape of the frame cannot be determined, but it was probably rectangular. The frame may have had 30 heraldic shields, as well as some of the Instruments of the Passion. Only those around the sides and along the bottom of the frame survived when the reredos was converted into a bench.

The five sections of the reredos are each devoted to one aspect of Christ's final days. The colours used are vivid, and include a bright red and a blueish green. The paintings were never deliberately damaged, but paint has been lost from them over the centuries. The loss of the top part from three of the panels only resulted in the removal of the architectural settings. The upper part of Christ has been lost in two of the panels. The missing part of the central panel has been reinstated by Pauline Plummer (unlike the others, where the missing art has not been restored), so that the reredos can be used in religious services. The first panel shows an almost totally naked Christ being whipped whilst being tied to a pillar. Jesus is looking at his persecutors with sadness rather than in pain. The Roman soldiers are made to look ugly as they grimace and dance, a sign that they are evil. The men scourging Jesus are shown as labouring peasants—with sunburnt skin, rustic clothes, and bare legs—whilst Jesus himself is almost naked and depicted with a pale-looking skin. A bearded authority figure that may represent Pilate is shown in this panel. The second panel shows Christ surrounded by soldiers as he is made to carry his cross. The central panel depicts the crucifixion of Christ. The panel shows Mary, mother of Jesus, being held by St John the Evangelist. A group of three men opposite to them includes a person who may be the same authority figure shown in the scourging scene. A quotation from the Bible reads vere filius dei erat iste (“This man was truly the Son of God”). The fourth panel shows events that follow the Burial of Jesus. He is shown carrying a banner and stepping onto the shoulder of a sleeping soldier as he rises from his tomb. Unlike the drawing of Jesus, the tomb has no perspective. The fifth panel shows the Ascension of Jesus, with the Disciples and the Virgin Mary arranged around him. Much of the figure of Jesus is lost, a result of the top of the panel being cut away when the reredos was made into a table top. It is unclear how much of Jesus was originally depicted in this panel. In the reredos, Christ is shown as humbly accepting his fate from those with the power to prescribe it; a similar position, says Beckwith, to the position the peasantry found themselves in following their abortive rebellion.

Despenser Reredos is recorded as made of gold leaf, glass, wood and paint. Associated with United Kingdom. Recorded from 1382.