LXXXI—ST. SAVIOUR'S HOSPITAL, OSNABURGH STREET
In Osnaburgh Street is St. Saviour's Hospital, the chapel of which is
furnished with an elaborate altar-piece, stalls, and other baroque woodwork
from the Carthusian Church of Buxheim in Bavaria. The sisterhood which
serves the Hospital was founded by Dr. Pusey in 1845 and came to St.
Saviour's in 1852, Dame Palmer, wife of Sir Henry Palmer, Pusey's friend,
establishing here this small hospital in the first house built for an Anglican
Community since the Reformation. The woodwork was sold by Buxheim in
1880, and after being purchased by the Jansenists in Holland was brought
to London and bought by Sir Henry Palmer from Messrs. Bonham, of
Oxford Street, in 1886.
Buxheim lies some 3 miles east of Memmigen on the banks of the
Iller, about 40 miles S. W. of Augsburg, the bishop of which presented the
ancient Collegiate house there to the Carthusians in 1402. They built a
Monastery, largely completed by 1512, which continued until 1809 when
the community was secularized. In 1880 the then owner, Count Hugo
von Waldbott-Bassenheim, sold its library and choir-stalls. The date of the
woodwork is reasonably certain since the year 1691 is carved on the altarscreen.
A considerable amount of alteration and adaptation was necessary to
fit the stalls into their present position. Of the original stalls (thirteen on the
south side, twelve on the north and six on the west), eighteen were kept
intact, the rest being cut up to form the other furniture of the Chapel. The
series of figures at the back of each stall is of Hermits and Founders of
Religious Orders, with the additional figures of Our Lord and the Virgin
Mary from the two principal stalls but now placed on the altar-screen. On
pedestals above the stalls are large figures of the Twelve Apostles and against
the north wall are those of Aaron, Moses, Melchisedech and David, which
were designed to crown the west range.
On the altar-screen, on either side of the arch, stand Seraphim;
flanking the date panels are emblems of the Seasons and on the pedestal in
the pediment the Four Living Creatures of Revelation hold a shield on which
is inscribed JAHWEH. On the pediment two Cherubim carry scrolls with
the words: SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS, DOMINUS DEUS
SABAOTH, and at the top is St. Michael holding a shield bearing: QUIS
Ut DEUS. On the desks by the door are figures of Carthusian monks in
the traditional attitude of contemplation at the altar steps before saying Mass.
On the west wall, above the stalls, there is a miscellaneous collection of
fragments and figures of angels, including a modern Italian text and lattice
work, and amongst them is a cartouche, carved and pierced, and containing
initials.
The figures on the stalls (in addition to the twelve Apostles) are as
follows: (S.W. side), Elijah, S. John of God, S. Basil the Great, S. Augustine
of Hippo, S. Odo, S. Bruno, S. William of Monte Virgina, S. Stephen of
Thiers, S. John of Matha. (N.W. side), S. John Baptist, S. Anthony,
S. Jerome, S. Philip Beniti, S. Celestine (Pope Celestine V), S. Norbert,
S. Guy of Montpellier, S. Dominic, S. Robert of Molesmes (Altar Screen),
Our Lord, S. Frances, The Blessed Virgin, (Side Chapel), S. Cajetan, S.
Benedict, S. Philip Neri, S. Bridget of Sweden, S. Peter Nolasco, S. Ignatius
Loyala, S. Theresa. (See Plate 75.)
We are indebted to Mr. A. R. Dufty, F.S.A., for the above particulars.—Editor.