Truro, Cathedral Church of St Mary
n11 . North quire aisle north 9
Entries in grey
are not obtained from documentary evidence, but
are inferred from content, context, etc .
Date of manufacture and insertion
1891
Number of lights
1
Maker
Clayton & Bell
Main subject
St Ambrose : SS Augustine, Monica : Theodosius I
confessing to Ambrose the massacre of Thessalonica.
Donor
The Revd Canon Francis Vansittart Thornton,
rector of South Hill with Callington,
Honorary Canon of St Breaca, Truro Cathedral,
husband of dedicatee
Dedicatee
Mary Louisa Thornton, née Cholmondeley,
died 1st October 1889
Notes
Death of dedicatee
Cornish Telegraph October 10, 1889 p 5 .
TCM/1134
Chapter Minute Book 5th January 1891 .
Cornish Telegraph September 3, 1891 p 8 ,
Cornishman September 3, 1891 p 4 ,
Worcester Journal September 5, 1891 p 6
(includes description of the subjects)
Hampshire Advertiser September 5, 1891 p 2 .
One of a series donated by Canon Thornton in memory of his wife.
To the glory of God and in loving memory of Mary Louisa Thornton died October 1 1889 aged 64 years in peace
S: (Sanctus) Augustinus S: (Sanctus) Ambrosius S: (Sancta) Monnica
St Ambrose, vested as Archbishop of Milan, stands in front of the archepiscopal throne
wearing bejewelled orphreys and gloves and holding a scourge in his right hand.
Below him on the left sits St Augustine vested as Bishop of Hippo including mitre, and gloves.
His right hand clasps a crozier held diagonally and his left holds up a heart with a flame leaping from the top,
an emblem of his passionate devotion.
On the right sits St Monica, the mother of St Augustine, dressed in a robe, cloak and widow’s veil.
Her right hand lies across an open book on her lap; her left hand holds a veiled monstrance.
Domine Deus miserere mei (Have mercy upon me, O God)
(Psalms 51:1 ).
The Roman Emperor Theodosius I
confesses before Ambrose to the massacre of Thessalonica,
and asks for God’s mercy.
Ambrose, clothed as in the upper panel n11 2 ,
holds a crozier and stands on a shallow podium, whilst Theodosius,
in Roman clothes and with a laurel wreath on his head, kneels before him.
The figures standing in the background may be mourning the loss of life
at Thessalonica.