" The famines and pestilences which swept across Europe in the Middle Ages, culminating in the ravages of the Black Death, took such toll of human life that men's minds turned instinctively to thoughts of death. Men saw Death as a menacing spectre, snatching them away from innocent joys, and the Church enforced the lesson of the vanity of human pleasures by paintings on the walls of village churches those picture-books of an unlettered age, which all who saw might read. "

" The Legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead, which pointed the moral, enjoyed widespread popularity in France, Germany, England, Italy, and Holland in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In England there were many examples, of which thirty are known, and many others must have perished unrecorded ¹. To most people the subject is familiar from the famous painting in the Campo Santo in Pisa. This was long attributed to Orcagna, but is more probably the work of the Siennese brothers Lorenzetti. ² The legend itself is much older and may, in the opinion of Künstle, be of eastern origin, ³ while Dr. Storck maintains ‘the story is, in fact, pure folk lore, a fact which has hitherto been overlooked ⁴. The form in which the legend was known to medieval artists was inspired by four short thirteenth-century French poems. The best known of these, 'Li troi vif et li troi mors', was written by Baudouin de Condé, minstrel at the court of Margaret II, countess of Flanders, 1244-80. As the salient features, reproduced again and again in village churches, are contained in Baudouin's poem of 160 lines, it is worth pausing for a moment to consider his theme in detail. "

" The poem describes the encounter of three gay young men, when walking, with three Deaths, whom they see coming towards them ‘lait et desfiguré de cors'. The first youth is so horrified that he flees in terror; the second, who is of sterner stuff, hails the apparition as sent by God; while the third dwells on the horror of decaying humanity. The youths speak to the grim visitors, and the first Death replies in words which are the keynote of the whole morality. "

" The second recalls that Death treats rich and poor alike, while the third emphasizes that there is no escape from his dread summons. "

" Six manuscripts of the poem in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris are illustrated by miniatures, three dating from the end of the thirteenth century and the remainder from the fourteenth. In the poem the three Living are not described as kings: one is a prince and his companions are nobles; nor does Baudouin make any mention of hunting; yet the miniature in one of the earliest texts (Bibl. Nat. fr. 25,566) shows one of the youths with a hawk on his wrist. In mural art the scene of the encounter was invariably a forest, although the artist often represented this merely by a conventional leafless tree, as may be seen at Seething, Wickhampton, and Widford. "

" The terror of the first Living recurs again and again in mural paintings. 'Je suis molt destrois de paour de ces troi mors la' exclaims the youth in the poem, and at Belton, Suffolk, the first king reins round his horse with the cry 'Away, while I fle', while at St. Riquier, near Abbeville, the riders are so panic-stricken that they lose command of their horses, and at Ennezat, Puy-de-Dôme, even the hawks fly wildly away and the hounds bolt in terror. "

" The horror of the youth, revolted by the grisly spectacle, is perpetuated at Kentford and Widford in the king, who holds up his hand before his eyes to shut out the fearsome sight, and at Paston by the act of the attendant. Here the sight was more than usually grim, as the three skeletons were hanging, blown by the wind into a semblance of life. "

" In England the subject is never treated with the stark realism of Baudouin's poem. It is often a gay scene, with richly dressed hunters accompanied by their hawks and hounds, and much less awe-inspiring than the Dance of Death, which became so popular fifty years later. There is never the grim horror of the scene as at Überlingen on the Bodensee, where red snakes crawl out of the eye sockets and mouth cavities of the dead men, nor the gruesome treatment of the painting in the abbey of Notre-Dame de Clairvaux at Metz, where the Dead lie in their coffins, being devoured by worms. "

" A miniature in a psalter, now in the British Museum, may be called the ancestor of mural paintings of the Three Living and the Three Dead in England. The book was made by order of John de Lyle in 1339, as a present for his daughter Audere, and the miniature shows the Living and the Dead, standing stiffly in two groups, the former robed and crowned, staring fixedly at three skeletons, two of whom are draped in tattered shrouds. A glance at the paintings at Seething, Kentford, Widford, Wickhampton, and Hurstbourne Tarrant shows how much the medieval artists were indebted to this psalter. "

" Whether an early panel painting followed the same design will probably never now be known. It was some thirty-five years older than the miniature, for Amadeus V of Savoy, cousin of Edward I, when on a visit to England between May 1302 and July 13032 bought two panels of the Trois Vifs, for the sum of 40s. 6d., from Bernardo di Mercato.³ Unfortunately Cibrario does not mention whether the panel was of English workmanship. "

" In England the three Living are usually on foot, while in France, especially after the lively hunting-scene in Jean du Pré's Book of Hours, they are nearly always mounted, accompanied by hunting-dogs. In Italy the legend is made more dramatic by the presence of the aged hermit, St. Macarius, who slowly descends the steep path from his hermitage to the plain below, to point to three dead kings lying exposed in their coffins, while the gay hunting-party gazes in horror. "

" In all countries hunting forms the background of the scene. Even when on foot, as in the Arundel Psalter and the painting at Widford, the youngest king carries a hawk on his wrist. Some authorities have seen in this a warning against excessive indulgence in the pleasures of the chase, as a secondary lesson of the morality. "

" The small church of Widford in Oxfordshire, which stands isolated in a meadow near Burford, contains one of the most ancient and best preserved scenes in England of the Three Living and the Three Dead. The figures are painted with the delicacy of a miniature and may, in the opinion of Mr. E. T. Long, have been copied from a missal. The kings, who are less than life-size, typify the three stages of human life: youth, middle age, and old age. The third, and most youthful, wears a yellow tunic, held in place by a belt, and a short mantle thrown over his shoulders. He is a keen sportsman, with his hawk on his wrist and a hunting-dog at his feet. His eyes are very close together, and on his cheeks are red spots. The second king is trying to draw his attention to the horrible skeletons, while the third and most elderly, regal in his scarlet mantle trimmed with ermine, holds up his hands to shield his eyes from the unwelcome apparition. He is a dignified old man with a broad, well-shaped head. The scrolls are now undecipherable. Of the Deaths only two remain, one red and one buff. Although, as in all early mural painting, the range of colour is limited, the artist has used those at his command with great effect, and the reds and yellows are boldly contrasted. The painting, which is enclosed in a coloured border, dates from c. 1325. "

" At Charlwood in Surrey is the only surviving example in England of the three kings on horseback, those at Belton, Stokesby, and Wymondham having perished. It bears many of the traces of early work, and is probably contemporary with the Widford painting; some authorities, indeed, place it even earlier, about 1290.3 When Mr. Philip Johnson was preserving the paintings in the church he came upon traces of the methods used by medieval artists. Beneath a thin layer of colour he found that the wall had been ruled 'vertically and horizontally in foot Squares, with grey lines that bore all the appearance of lead pencilling, showing that the travelling limner had enlarged from a parchment miniature in his wallet'. 'To sit beneath such coloured walls', adds Mr. Johnson, 'and note the very technique of the artist, dead, perhaps, six or seven centuries, is to dream oneself back into the very past.' "

" If the Three Living and the Three Dead at Charlwood lack the fidelity and jewel-like brilliance of their Widford contemporary, the artist has been more ambitious and has grappled boldly with the problem of fore-shortening. If he has not been wholly successful, he has conveyed the sense of movement and rhythm well. Strictly speaking, the three Dead are not skeletons but mummified forms, made more awe-inspiring by ribs outlined in white paint. Unlike Widford, where the ages of the three kings are in marked contrast, at Charlwood all three are gay, curly-headed youths, smartly dressed, wearing gloves with hanging ends, which were then the height of fashion. "

" Unfortunately the colours have sadly faded since the painting was uncovered in 1858, and Mr. Johnson's efforts to preserve them in 1924 did not meet with much success. Actually the three Deaths are even more gruesome than the artist drew them, as the relieving lines have perished. "

" After the drama of the Charlwood scene, the morality at Hurstbourne Tarrant, Hampshire, seems dull and lifeless. Here the artist follows the model of the Arundel miniature closely. The Living and the Dead are grouped stiffly on either side of a leafless tree. The painting, which is between the east and middle window of the north' aisle, dates from the middle of the fourteenth century and is believed to be contemporary with the aisle, the border of red trefoils which encloses the figures marking the height of the wall before it was raised.2 "

" Most of the colour was destroyed in removing the whitewash when the painting was uncovered forty-five years ago. The three kings are now white and ghostly, but originally the scene must have glowed with colour, and some idea of its richness can be gauged from the touches of red on the first king's robe, and his red shoes, and from the white background dappled with red spots. All the kings are wearing crowns of an early type, and, as at Widford, they are of different ages. The first king, a benevolent white- bearded monarch, touches the barren tree-trunk, while his companion, younger but also with a beard, draws the attention of the third king, a mere youth, to the horrible vision of three yellow spectres, gaping jaws and hollow eye-sockets, who are advancing towards them. The artist shows some knowledge of anatomy in the drawing of the skulls and the knee and elbow joints of the three ghastly visitants, and the draughtsmanship as a whole is good. "

" A fragment of the same legend remains in the lonely church of Edworth, Bedfordshire. It is probably a little later than the one at Hurstbourne Tarrant, and is easily overlooked, as it is placed high up on the inner wall of the north aisle. Only two kings remain: one, holding a sceptre, wears a red jupon, trimmed with ermine, which buttons down the front, and a grey green cloak over his shoulder. On his feet are broad-toed shoes, fastened by leather thongs, and both he and his companion are looking southward. The second king, who is drawn on a larger scale, is a more martial figure, with a long surcoat over his coat of mail, and he is holding a battle-axe in his right hand. "

" In 1868 Sir Gilbert Scott brought to light a group of three crowned figures over the north door in Lutterworth parish church. The town of Wycliffe naturally tends to historical associations, and local tradition has identified the figures as John of Gaunt, Richard II, and Anne of Bohemia. Although the painting is late fourteenth century, this bold characterization cannot be supported, for the subject is clearly the Three Living and the Three Dead, the latter being destroyed during structural alterations to the church. The central figure, the pseudo-queen of Richard II, is really an effeminate youth with curly hair. He holds out his hand in terror to the third king, a dignified middle-aged man, holding a sceptre in his left hand and a hawk on his right wrist. He wears a mantle, fastened by a jewelled clasp, the folds of which are thrown over his left arm. The first king is older, with a luxurious beard and long curling locks, and he, too, holds a hawk on his right hand. "

" Opposite the south door, facing the visitor as he enters the church, one of the few complete representations of the legend is to be found at Kentford in Suffolk. Uncovered in 1927, the scale is more than life-size, but most of the colour has been lost, and the three kings appear as white figures against a red ground. They are boldly drawn: the first king stands with a commanding gesture, holding his hand before his face to shut out the horrible sight of the advancing Deaths, while his companion averts his eyes with a sideways glance. The third looks westward. All three wear long pointed shoes. Deaths are brown mummified figures, much less awe-inspiring than those at Charlwood. The painting is late fourteenth century and the composition is so good that the artist probably came from the school of art at Bury St. Edmunds which flourished at that period. Mr. Long notes a marked resemblance between the painting and the work of that school.' "

" The treatment of the subject at St. Margaret's church, Paston, is quite different. Painted on the north wall of the nave about the year 1400, the legend must have been seen in undimmed splendour by members of the famous family of letter writers who lived in the manor-house, beside the church. The painting was of great artistic merit, as can be seen from the one king and his two attendants which remain. They are alive and full of movement. The fair-haired king, with his forked beard, trips gaily along with a light step, in a white tunic and red hose. His long face has a carefree look as if, as yet, unaware of the dreadful sight, to which one of the attendants is trying to draw his attention by touching his hand. The other page, a small figure in a striped red suit, holds up his hand and beckons to his royal master. Round the boy's neck is the leash to which hunting-dogs were fastened and he holds the cord in his right hand. In Professor Tristram's opinion the other two kings were in the blank space to the left, nearer the skeletons, who were hanging, swaying in the wind. These, I found when I visited Paston in April 1940, are almost indistinguishable. "

" Contemporary with the Paston painting are the Trois Vifs at Wickhampton, near Great Yarmouth. The coloured plates in Ingleby's supplement to Blomefield's Norfolk show the scene in all its splendour, making the contrast with its present faded state all the more poignant. Covered with whitewash until 1892, the subsequent cleaning removed not only the covering but most of the colour too. This is the more regrettable, as Wickhampton, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Kentford, and Raunds are the only complete examples of the legend remaining in England. "

" The artist at Wickhampton has added realistic touches not found elsewhere. Below the central tree a gay huntsman, drawn on a smaller scale, wearing a suit with one white leg and one blue, held two hounds in a leash, while the hare bolted ahead. The three kings are more than life-size, and the first wears a doublet, with fashionable long, hanging sleeves, close- fitting hose, and long pointed shoes. He grasps his companion by the wrist to stay his progress. The third king, who unlike the others is a beardless youth, carries a hawk with jesses on his gloved hand. "

" The three Deaths advance with an air of malicious mischief. They are mummified forms rather than skeletons; perhaps in this way the artist thought he would avoid the pitfalls of anatomy. If so, he was not wholly successful, for the arms of the Deaths from the shoulder to the elbow are unduly short compared with their forearms. "

" Not far away, in the same county, at Belton, there was a spirited rendering of the three Living on horseback, with the Deaths even more insolently triumphant. It is a great loss to English medieval art that this fine example should have been allowed to perish. In 1938, when paintings in the neighbouring church of Fritton were undergoing treatment, a careful examination was made to see if anything could be done to preserve it, but owing to the rough surface of the wall and the figure of Saint Christopher superimposed, the attempt had to be abandoned. "

" Now even the outlines are indiscernible, and only a photograph in the church remains to recall the painting with the three skeletons approaching the three monarchs on horses, gaily harnessed with the trappings popular in the reign of Henry IV. The flattened heads of the horses show that the artist has made al bold, if not entirely accurate, attempt at foreshortening. Mr. Munro Cautley, writing in 1938, says: 'I can well remember the inscribed scrolls about the three Kings, when they were perfectly legible.' The first king, who was in the act of galloping away, exclaimed 'I wyl fle'; the second, an effeminate youth, whose hand is raised to shield his eyes from the horrible sight, cries, ‘ O marvellous syte ys that I se', and the third king, bearded and dignified, faces the spectres boldly, with the inquiry 'O benedicite, what want ye?' "

" The fifteenth-century Trois Vifs at Seething, Norfolk, has had a chequered history. Uncovered in 1861, it was soon whitewashed over, and when stripped again in 1925 it underwent the same fate, until in 1937 it was again exposed by Mrs. Bardswell, under Professor Tristram's direction. Although artistically inferior to the earlier paintings at Widford and Paston, it is a good large-scale example of fifteenth-century work. The three kings are standing stiffly on one side of a leafless tree, facing one of the three Dead. His companions have perished in the frequent uncoverings, as has much of the colour. Originally it must have glowed like a ruby in this quiet country church, for touches of red on the second king's jupon and the third king's hose show how rich it must once have been. As usual it was a hunting-scene, as is evident from the bolting hare in the foreground. On the right of the kings was the figure of an attendant, over which a large Saint Christopher has been painted. "

" Fragments of two other fifteenth-century representations of the legend remain at Great Livermere in Suffolk and Slapton in Northamptonshire. At Great Livermere the figures of two kings can be seen in the north-west corner of the church. They are standing side by side; the younger fair- haired king wears a red robe and holds a long stave. His companion is older, with a red beard, and is slightly bent as he supports himself on his staff. His red mantle is trimmed with ermine and he has long red hose and pointed shoes. Neither shows any trace of fear or apprehension. At Slapton all that has survived are two Deaths and a shadowy trace of a figure, which may be one of the kings, to the right. "

" Over three bays of the north nave arcade in the parish church at Raunds, Northamptonshire, there is an example of the legend, which is outstanding in boldness of design and skill of execution. The painting is late work, probably about 1460. Although much faded, the artist's skill is shown in the arrangement of the figures and in the dignity of the grouping. The work bears a marked resemblance to the East Anglian school,2 and both in draughtsmanship and perspective is a great advance on fourteenth- century painting. Not merely the red and yellow ochre of the earlier artists was used, but many colours were skilfully blended. "

" The artist shows the three kings standing on turf gay with spring flowers. They have just emerged from a castle for a hunting expedition, and are regally, but unsuitably, attired in voluminous ermine-trimmed mantles, and they have massive crowns on their heads. They have hawks on their wrists and white hares are gambolling in the green grass. The second king dominates the scene, as he strides boldly along, to meet the three hideous apparitions coming towards them, while reassuring his two more timid companions. Behind the third king are two wooden posts with a large chain, which may be part of the castle drawbridge. The three Deaths, tawny and menacing, hold up bony arms to arrest the progress of the hunting party. "

" In conclusion a list of thirty representations of the legend is given, with details supplied in many cases by the incumbents. The twelve which still exist are distinguished by an asterisk. Although every effort has been made to make the list as complete and accurate as possible, war-time conditions have made the task very difficult, and several have possibly escaped the writer's notice. Any corrections or additions to the list will be welcomed. "

• 1. Ampney Crucis, Glos. 15th c. Discovered 1871, but soon destroyed. On the south wall. The three Living were a king, a queen, and a priest. Over each was an inscription.
  The priest's ran
  Ye men ye be - This that ye see.
  In the centre was a large cross. There was one Death.
• 2. Bardwell, Suffolk. 16th c. Three Deaths wearing crowns, on the south wall of the nave. Plastered over in 1853.
• 3. Barnstaple, Devon. 14th c. Figures over the tower arch may have been part of the Trois Vifs. Destroyed.
• 4. Battle, Sussex. 14th c. Over the chancel arch were the figures of a king and queen facing two Deaths. The king grasped a sceptre in one hand, and with the other held his crown on his head. Above was Lucan's epi- gram 'Mors sceptra ligonibus equat'. Destroyed 1845, during a drastic cleaning of the church. Water-colour drawings made by a Hastings archaeologist at the time can be seen in a book belonging to the Deanery of Battle. Illustrated in J. C. Wall's Medieval Wall Paintings.
• 5. Belton, Suffolk. 15th c. Uncovered 1848, measured 16 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft. 6 in. Too faded to be distinguishable. Illustrated by a photograph in the church, and Burlington Magazine, vol. xxi, Aug. 1912. Described in this article, p. 36.
• 6. Bovey Tracy, Devon. 15th c. (c. 1490). Found during the restoration of the church in 1858. On the left three kings were hunting; two wore mantles and held sceptres; one had a hawk. The three Deaths stood in a row, hand in hand. Behind the first and third kings were the words 'Byhold and see (what we must be)'. Below was the Lamb of God. A water-colour copy is preserved in the church, and there is an illustration in the Burlington Magazine, vol. xxi, p. 251. For a description see the Torquay Directory, 1934, by A. C. Ellis and articles by F. Hamilton Jackson in the Guardian, July 29, 1908, and by A. H. Dyson in the Leicester Advertiser, Sept. 25, 1915.
• 7. Charlwood, Surrey. Early 14th c. Three kings on horseback meet three Deaths. Described on p. 34. Illustrated in J. C. Wall's Medieval Wall Painting, p. 204; Burlington Magazine, vol. xxi, p. 251; Tristram and Borenius, English Medieval Painting, p. 37. Archaeological Journal, vol. xvi, p. 216.
• 8. Ditchingham, Norfolk. 14th c. On north wall of nave, three kings on foot in a forest met three Deaths. All the kings were elderly; one had a forked beard like the king at Paston. One held a battle-axe and the other two had sceptres. The three Deaths wore tall, narrow crowns, and their ribs were drawn to look like a suit of mail. The background was scattered with stars. Destroyed. Illustrated Burlington Magazine, vol. xxi, p. 251. Archaeological Journal, vol. v, p. 69.
• *9. Edworth, Beds. 14th c. South wall of north aisle. Two kings remain. described on p. 35.
• 10. Evenley, Northants. Destroyed when church rebuilt, 1864.
• 11. Gorleston, Suffolk. St. Andrew's, north wall. Two middle-aged kings and a handsome youth were standing on a flowery meadow. Destroyed. Illustrated in Burlington Magazine, Sept. 1912.
• *12. Great Livermere, Suffolk. 14th c. North-west corner of church. Only two kings remain. Described on p. 37.
• 13. Guernsey, Ste Marie du Chastel. Between the vault of the chancel and the tower. Three Deaths.
• 14. Horne, Suffolk. 14th c. Destroyed.
• *15. Hurstbourne Tarrant, Hants. 14th c. Three kings and three Deaths on foot. See P. 34.
• 16. Jersey, St. Clement. 14th c. Scanty remains of a hunting scene. Feet of the horses and a hound.
• *17. Kentford, Suffolk. 14th c. Uncovered in 1927. Three kings meet three Deaths. See p. 35-
• 18. Limpenhoe, Norfolk. Destroyed.
• *19. Lutterworth. 14th c. The three kings remain on the north wall of the north aisle. The Deaths were destroyed during structural alterations. See p. 35. Illustrated in Lutterworth, by A. H. Dyson.
• 19a. North Stoke, Oxon. Over the north door of the nave there is a large but fragmentary 15th-century painting of the three kings. Between two yellow trees three richly clad men meet three emaciated figures. Only the lower part remains; the heads and upper part of the bodies are no longer visible. The dress is outlined in red. Described by C. E. Keyser in the B.A.A. Journal, vol. xxiv, p. 17 (Dec. 1918), pl. 30.
• *20. Paston, Norfolk. Late 14th c. Discovered 1922 on north wall of the church of St. Margaret. A king and his two attendants remain. For description see this article, p. 36, and 'Some Recent Discoveries at Paston', by Monica Bardwell, Norfolk Archaeology, vol. xxii, 1925, p. 191.
• *21. Raunds, Northants. 15th c. Faded, but remarkable for its large scale and skilful composition. Over the north nave arcade. Three kings and three Deaths on foot. For a description see 'Raunds' by A. Vallance, Burlington Magazine, vol. xxii, Oct. 1912, p. 48; 'On the Wall Paintings in the Churches of Raunds and Slapton. Northants', by J. G. Waller, Archaeological Journal, vol. xxxiv, p. 219; Tristram and Borenius, English Medieval Painting, p. 38, with illustration. See this article, p. 37.
• *22. Seething, Norfolk. 15th c. North wall of nave. Three kings and one Death. Uncovered for the third time in 1937. See Eastern Daily Press. Sept. 27, 1937. See this article, p. 37.
• *23. Slapton, Northants. Late 14th c. South wall of south aisle. Two skeletons remain.
• 24. Stokesby, Norfolk. South wall of nave. Probably part of the Trois Vifs. Discovered in 1857 but replastered by the workmen. There was a horseman, wearing a cap, encircled by a triple crown. His horse was connected by traces to the one behind, whose rider was hidden by a panel. At the rider's feet were a hare and two hounds. Norfolk Archaeology, vol. v, p. 291.
• 25. Tettenhall, Staffs. Three skeletons and a green tree were found in the chancel. Destroyed.
• 26. Whaddon, Bucks. Traces of the three kings. Destroyed.
• *27. Wickhampton, Norfolk. Early 15th c. On the north wall of the nave. Elaborate representation of the three kings confronted by three Deaths. Now much faded. Coloured plate in M. R. James's article in Ingleby's supplement to Blomefield's Norfolk, and a photograph in Burlington Magazine, vol. xxi, Aug. 1912. Drawing in Tristram and Borenius, English Medieval Painting. See this article, p. 37.
• *28. Widford, Oxon. c. 1325. In the chancel, three kings and two Deaths remain in good state of preservation. See p. 33.
• 29. Woodeaton, Oxon. Traces of a mural painting, probably the Trois Vifs, can be seen, and this will be uncovered as soon as funds permit.
• 30. Wymondham, Norfolk. Uncovered 1834 on the south side of the nave. Destroyed. There were three skeletons with a cloud above them and three richly dressed figures, the third on horseback, wearing a triple crown. Archaeologia, vol. xxvi, p. 290.