Andrian Melka Carves Lincoln Cathedral Frieze
19th January 2022
The country’s leading stone carvers have put the finishing touches to the copy carvings that form part of Lincoln Cathedral’s famous Romanesque Frieze which will go on display in the cathedral’s new Exhibition Centre at the end of this month.
Nationally renowned stone carvers, QEST Scholar Andrian Melka, Martin Coward, Tim Crawley and Alan Micklethwaite worked together in the cathedral making themselves available to discuss their work with the public and putting the final adjustments to the sculptures and carvings on the Frieze.
Lincoln Cathedral’s Romanesque Frieze is the longest and most intact narrative frieze in Western Europe and of international importance.
The series of high relief panels running from the north-west corner of the Norman West Front to the southern side of the building, were probably carved between 1120-1160 and convey scenes from the Old and New Testaments.
Work finally began on the southern Frieze panels in 2018 – 40 years after they had been covered in protective boxes – thanks to the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Surveys provided a detailed picture of their condition and were followed by three years of cleaning and conservation work. At the same time, a full set of new copy carvings were commissioned, allowing the Dean and Chapter the ability to use them in the West Front should a panel have to be removed, or to present them as part of the Frieze exhibition.
Seventeen complete panels of the Frieze now survive: eight panels to the north of the central recess and nine to the south with scenes including Noah and the Ark, Adam and Cain tilling and the Expulsion of Adam and Eve. With this new carving work, Lincoln Cathedral now effectively has two copies of the Friezes – on the West Front and in the Exhibition Centre – both a mix of original and replacement carvings.
The installation of the Romanesque Frieze in the new, purpose-built exhibition gallery marks the final milestone in Lincoln Cathedral’s £16m National Lottery funded project which also included the construction of a new visitor centre, landscaping of new external spaces and vital restoration and conservation work to the Cathedral’s West Front, parvis, cloister wall and 13th century Exchequer Gate Arch.
The gallery will open on 29 January and explores over 1000 years of history, from early worship in Lincoln and the cathedral’s foundation, to the work continuing to the present day.
Read more here.