Paramahansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi)

The central panel shows the legend of St. George killing a dragon outside the city of Antioch.

Below is his wife Sabra who has just borne three boys, one of whom is being carried off by a lion. This romantic addition to the legend was current in the sixteenth century.

St. George is the patron saint of England and of the Royal Order of the Garter. He was also venerated by warrior kings like Henry VIII.

Above St. George are reclining male nudes: a popular motif of renaissance art. God appears in blessing above them.

At the top and the bottom are the initials of Henry and Anne Boleyn: ‘H’ and ‘A’.

Down either side is a frieze of military trophies, appropriate to the general martial theme.

Several different carvers have worked on the stall. The central round panel and the figure of God above it are much finer than the rest of the work. *

*From a signboard next to the artwork

Galatians 3:28

I was inspired to post the above thought when it was quoted on an inspirational blog that I regularly read . I wondered what photograph I would use to go with the quote and  I was directed (in my mind) to click on a folder and this image was the first photo in the folder.

I searched the Bishop’s Palace website to view details of the chapel and altar.

The page about the chapel revealed an additional quote that connects and chimes with the quote I was inspired with…

The new altar, made of maple and Ancaster stone, was designed by David John and made by Richard Richardson. The altar stands above engraved stone work by John Rowlands Pritchard, with the text, ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; and has given us the ministry of reconciliation’. (2 Corinthians 5:18).

The things that I refer to as ‘my strange coincidences’ are at work again…

Gospel of St John 19-20

Swami Vivekananda

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