LINCOLN CATHEDRAL

WIENER, Jacques: England, 1857, Bronze, 59 mm
Obv: View of exterior of cathedral
Exergue: LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
Rev: View of interior
Exergue: FOUNDED 1085. BURNT 1141. OFTEN REBUILT 1195–1250. SOUTH TRANSEPT 1306
Signed: J. WIENER F. BRUSSELS ELKINGTON ET C. LONDON / J. WIENER F.
Ref: Van Hoydonck 150

Lincoln cathedral stands on a hill in the city of Lincoln, England. It contains some of the earliest purely Gothic work extant, as well as every style from the simple massive Norman of the central west front and the later Norman of the west doorways and towers onward through all the Gothic styles. Formerly the cathedral had three spires, all of wood or leaded timber. The spire on the central tower, which would have been the highest in the world, was blown down in 1547. Lincoln cathedral possesses the finest copy extant of the Magna Carta. It was exhibited at the New York World's Fair, 1939-1940, and was afterward sent to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where it remained during World War II.

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