Missing Angel puzzle

 

Here’s a real puzzle.  This image appears on the internet now and again, and is described ‘Painting at St Julian’s Church Shrewsbury, 1643’.  The image comes from a small hand-painted paper now in store at the Shrewsbury Town Archives, but there is no information as to exactly what old artefact this is a painting of... 
We don't know what the 1643 date refers to either, as the image itself was probably painted from the original (which has now disappeared) in the nineteenth century.

The only clue is in a line above the angel’s head which says "Angel taken from the tower of St Julian's".  

Is it a representation of an old coloured carving that was once on the tower side, or of a fresco once on its inside?
The people at St Julian’s Church don’t know anything about it and googling doesn’t lead to a result.

It would be wonderful to know some more of the story. Anybody know anything?

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JMW Turner's view

 
When you're an inveterate loggerheads-spotter, even the slightest sighting can be exciting!
In this watercolour painting, the famous artist JMW Turner has depicted 'English Bridge', Shrewsbury's largest bridge... including its loggerheads.
It's impossible to see much from my photograph, but, ...believe me..., Turner has made sure he's included the decorative pediment which was on the balustrade of the bridge when he painted it (and it is still there now) - and which consists of the three loggerheads...!

What's nice to report that this painting is now on permanent public display at Shrewsbury Museum.  The only way that it was safe to do this was to ensure that it had proper protective glass - to save it from the effects of light as much as anything else.  Now, thanks to a donation from a local art-dealer, the painting has the glass it needed - so members of the public can now see it in the museum anytime.

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Daubing on Butcher Row

Butcher Row is one of Shrewsbury's iconic medieval streets and is full of listed buildings - but it looks like someone once thought it a good idea to paint daubs on some of these venerable door frames.

You have to look for them, but when you find them, you'll see that one of the daubs is a set of loggerheads. The work is amateurish and includes an unusual heraldic lion.

The other daub  that interests us is a shield of arms (see below right) - which we don't recognise. 

So, the mysteries are: who painted the loggerheads, and when, and why?  And whose arms are those on the second image?

Please let us have your thoughts... Use the comments field just down this page or email us direct.  

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