Apostles Shields in the Chancel
In the carving above the choir stalls are nails suggesting the cross and the passion of our Lord, and at the division points are bosses with shields of each of the Apostles, of Stephen, and of Joseph and Mary, some of them reflecting the ways in which as martyrs men met their deaths while bearing witness to their Lord. The series of the Twelve begins with the third shield on the left side of the chancel. The order from left to right is that of Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper, substituting Matthias for Judas.
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First is Bartholomew. He is said to have been flayed alive and then crucified, so three flaying knives appear on his shield. |
James the Less is shown by a windmill because he is thought by some to have been a missionary to the Low Countries. |
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Andrew's symbol is a Greek cross like that on which he is said to have died, with an anchor superimposed. |
Matthias is shown by an open Bible and a double battle-axe. Some think he was stoned and then beheaded after missionary work in Judea. |
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Simon Peter's shield has on it an inverted cross, since it is said that, feeling unworthy, he asked not to be crucified in the same position as his Lord. On it are also the keys because it was to him as leader of the Apostolic band that Jesus said, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." |
John's sign consists of a sword and a serpent, recalling the fact of man's sin and the power of the Sword of the Spirit over sin. |
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Continuing around on the right side of the chancel, next is the shield of James with three scallop shells, symbols of pilgrimage, for one who showed such missionary zeal. |
The shield of Thomas, who went to India and was stoned there, is represented by a leather girdle and three stones. |
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Philip's shield shows a slender cross and two loaves (it was he whom Jesus asked before the feeding the of five thousand, "Whence shall we buy bread, that they may eat?" doing this to prove him, because he knew what he would do.) |
The shield of Matthew shows a dolphin, one of the most kingly of swimming things and associated by the ancients with the future life. |
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Jude's shield shows a ship because he traveled far with Simon the Zealot on missionary journeys. |
| The shield of Simon, Jude's companion, has a pair of oars crossed with a battle axe, for he is thought to have been beheaded. |  |
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The shields on each end of the series are Paul's on the left and Stephen's on the right. Paul's conversion was the fruit of Stephen's witness. Paul's symbol is an open Bible and behind the Bible the Sword of the Spirit, cross-hilted. |
Stephen's shield has the palm tree, a sign of the resurrection. |
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On the canopy facing the nave are the shields of Joseph and Mary. Joseph's shield has a flowering staff and a carpenter's square. |
| The symbol on Mary's shield, behind the pulpit, is the fleur-de-lys, or Annunciation Lily, the emblem of virginity. |  |
