Norwich, Norfolk, UK

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Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Norwich, Norfolk, UK

Church of St John Maddermarket

Monument to Christopher †1600 and Anne †1604 Layer and family. Alabaster, painted. South east end. Commissioned by his only (unicus) son, perhaps after the death of his brothers.

The impressive but simple frame has niches for allegories and a roundel with elaborate decoration of the coat arms, repeated in two more hanging above figures. Presumably, given Christopher layer’s London connections, commissioned from an unidentified London mason. Christopher and Mary kneel in prayer before a prayer stool and skull, under rays from the sun breaking through the circle of clouds. Their three sons and five daughters kneel behind. There are further reminders of death at the sides of the inscriptions, shovel and pick on one side, crossed bones with pomegranates on the other. The cautionary note continued in the four allegorical figures in the niches of the frame: top left Pax (Peace), a female in cuirass with palm trampling a helmet and pikes; underneath Vanitas (Vanity) a nude boy balanced on a globe blowing bubbles, (some now missing); on the opposite side Gloria (Glory again a female warrior in cuirass balanced on a crescent moon pointing to heaven, with a fleur de lys in her other hand) and finally Labor (Work) an elderly poorly dressed bearded man apparently digging up a skull (echoes of Hamlet’s ‘alas poor Yorick’).

Christopher Layer (1531-1600) was the son of grocer, whose trade he followed successfully. His civic honours included sheriff 1569-70, alderman 1570, mayor 1581-2, 1589-90 and elected as member of parliament in 1584 and 1597. According to the account by Roger Virgoe in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981: ‘Layer imported goods from the Netherlands, investing his gains in land and houses in Norwich, at Theberton and elsewhere in Suffolk and at Booton, Cawston, Cringleford and other places in Norfolk. His attempts to enclose the common at Great Witchingham in Norfolk led him into a long series of lawsuits. He was described by his opponent as ‘a very politique and worldly minded man most regarding his own private commodity’, and ‘a man of great riches’. His will disposed of his lands among his grandchildren and surviving children, provided for a substantial income for his widow, the sole executrix, and contained bequests to numerous relatives and friends and to the poor in Norwich and elsewhere.

detail of the figure of Christopher Layer

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Taken on: October 13, 2016
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Sets appears in:   • Norwich, Church of St John Maddermarket   
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