West Front Image Screen

The West Front Image Screen of Exeter Cathedral is one of the great architectural features of Medieval England. The addition of the screen in the 1340s marked the completion of the re‑building of the cathedral in the Gothic style. Work continued on the image screen with the north entrance finished around 1377. The top tier was a later addition, constructed 1450-80.

Behind the screen, to the right of the Great West Door is the burial chapel of John Grandisson who died in 1369 after more than 40 years as Bishop of Exeter. When he arrived in 1327 Exeter Cathedral was a building site with the new quire and presbytery completed the following year. In a letter to the pope, he commented that Exeter Cathedral was nearly half finished and, if completed, would be admired for its beauty above every other of its kind within the realm of England or France. He then set about completing the rest of the building.

The West Front Image Screen is covered in a wealth of carving, dominated by three rows of statues in niches. At the bottom are angels appearing to support all the figures above. Dozens of figures also peer out from the battlements above and the whole screen is decorated with plants and animals. Originally, the image screen was entirely coloured and must have made a convincing vision of heaven.

Over the centuries, figures have been repaired and a few replaced. Whilst most of the screen escaped significant damage during the Reformation and Civil War, the stonework has suffered in other ways. The screen reportedly glowed red from the heat generated by large bonfires lit in front of the cathedral on 5 November in the 19th century and there was a tradition of chipping off pieces of statues which were then ground into powder used to heal sores. Pollution, the weather and roosting birds have also affected the stonework. Every five years the screen is inspected and any necessary maintenance work carried out using traditional techniques. A net now covers the screen to keep away birds.

Several schemes have put forward suggesting identities for the collections of figures. However, only a limited number can be confirmed.

Click the button below for details about some of the figures.

“Exeter Cathedral is architecture as theatre.”

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“Really lovely, and unexpectedly ‘wow.’”

“I am in a wheelchair, but I could see everything (pretty much!)”

“Well worth the sore neck from time spent looking heavenwards!”

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Image Screen Figures

In the top row, over the central doorway is an odd pair of figures. On the right is a representation of God. On the left (at God’s right hand) would have been a seated figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. They were the central figures of this medieval vision of heaven. Mary’s image was destroyed in the Reformation and mistakenly replaced by this curious statue of King Richard II in the early 19th century. The shield below the empty space was interpreted as the arms of King Richard and it was also assumed that the shield identified the missing statue.

The top row of figures in the central section also includes the apostles, several of whom can be identified. St Bartholomew is depicted holding his skin on which his upside down head can still be seen. This is a reference to the tradition that Bartholomew was martyred by being skinned alive. St Andrew is holding his X-shaped cross. St John the Divine can be identified as the figure carrying the poisoned cup and serpent, commonly used to indicate this saint. Next to St John is the figure of St James the Great with the scallop shell on his hat, wearing his pilgrim’s pouch and holding his staff.

Although worn, sufficient of the symbolic figures at the feet of the upper figures on the projecting buttresses remain to identify them as the four evangelists: St Matthew with his angel and St John with his eagle on the north buttress, St Luke with his ox and St Mark with his lion on the south buttress.

Over the north entrance are niches for four small statues, one of which is missing. The remaining three have been identified as representing Justice, Fortitude and Prudence, three of the four cardinal virtues. The associated vices being trampled under feet, as well as the tilted scales of justice (with a missing pan) and the shield and lance of fortitude, can still be seen. The missing figure would have represented Temperance.

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Photos by Diane Walker

West Front Image Screen