e.[37]

[Footnote 37: This great work is designed as a memorial of Dean
Peacock, and a more fitting one could scarcely be found, as it is one
of the great works he had in contemplation. "The Dean and Chapter felt
that they could not propose any record of the zealous exertions of the
late Dean, so appropriate as the restoration of the central portion of
the Cathedral Church; which, after the great improvements executed
under his superintendence in the eastern and western portions of the
fabric, would form as it were a keystone of the whole work."
Subscriptions amounting to about L10,000, were given by many noblemen
as well as other friends of Dean Peacock; the capitular body
contributing very largely towards the work.]

When the white and yellow-wash was cleared away from the woodwork of
the Octagon and Lantern in 1850, some remnants of ancient colouring
were discovered. In the archives of the Cathedral are preserved the
accounts of the materials used in this painting, the prices of the
colours, and the wages paid to the workmen. The name of the principal
artist was Walter; he is dignified by the name of "Pictor," but he
only received Eightpence per week, "_praeter mensam et robam_" the
"_roba_" being the painter's dress of the period, which was very like
a modern gentleman's dressing gown. The colouring of this "Walter"
between the years 1335 and 1351 seems to have been of a very simple
character. The only evidence of designs that remained in 1850 were on
the flat panels of the vaulting, which was covered with an imitation
of ordinary gothic flowing tracery. The pattern was a series of
quatrefoils painted in stone-colour on the wood, outlined black, and
filled with green. The bosses of the Lantern, which are not carved,
had been evidently painted and gilt, but the patterns of foliage were
rough and too much injured to afford any distinct composition.

The small amount of colouring which remained on some of the mouldings
of the Octagon was principally of a bright red, but only in small
patches, the ground-work having peeled off and the colour with it.

In attempting to describe briefly the recent decoration of the Octagon
and Lantern we cannot do better than quote the substance of a paper
read during the Conference in June, 1875, explaining the history and
nature of the ornamentation which has been carried out with such
loving care and artistic skill under Gambier Parry, Esq., who designed
the whole and painted the c