Researchers used advanced technology to discover how the statue of Edward in Woodstock was made more than 600 years ago

Historians have always wanted to know how the realistic knight armors on the tombs of the infamous Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock, and the heir to the British throne who died in 1376 were made. Now they think they know.

Maev Kennedy of the Art newspaper reported that the researchers used X-ray fluorescence spectrometers and other medical imaging equipment to find that the metal armor on the statue was probably made by a real armor manufacturer. A group of historians and scientists from the Courtauld College of Art used non-invasive techniques to observe the interior of the statue in the tomb of Canterbury Cathedral in England.

According to Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica, their inspection of the protective plates on the reclining figures revealed a complex system of bolts and pins holding them together, indicating that the designer had a detailed understanding of medieval armor. The statue armor is very similar to the knight armor actually worn by the Black Prince and is displayed in the cathedral.

"The way his armor is depicted on the tomb has some profound effects," said Jessica Barker, co-leader of the team and senior lecturer in medieval art at Courtauld, in a statement. "This is not just any armor-it is his armor. The same armor hangs above the tomb, and even the tiny details such as the location of the rivets are completely faithfully reproduced."

I don't know how Edward of Woodstock, the son of Edward III and the father of Richard II, got his nickname. Some historians believe that this may be traced back to the black armor he wore in battle. "Art Daily" stated that others claimed that this stemmed from his barbaric behavior as a military commander. In 1370, after the Siege of Limoges in France, the Black Prince ordered the massacre of hundreds of men, women and children.

Edward of Woodstock died of dysentery six years later at the age of 45. In the findings of the investigation published in Burlington Magazine by the Kotod team, he left a detailed explanation of what his tomb should look like before he died. This is a monthly art magazine covering exquisiteness and decorations. .

According to Live Science's Owen Jarus, according to researchers, the Black Prince wanted his tomb statue to be made of metal and "fully armed", which was "unprecedented" in England at the time. The portrait in this cemetery is one of only six surviving large cast metal sculptures in medieval England.

Initially, historians believed that the tomb was built shortly after the death of Edward of Woodstock in 1376. However, the metal alloy in this statue is almost the same as the metal alloy used in another statue created for the Black Prince's father Edward III, which was built in 1386. The findings of the researchers.

The team now suspects that the two tombs were built at the same time by Richard II, and he may use them as propaganda to support his crumbling rule. The king’s unpopularity at the time was due to the threat of another war with France and the pressure it put on the country’s finances.

"But until now, due to the lack of documentation on the black prince’s tombs and statues, we have limited knowledge of their construction, age, and patrons, so our scientific research on them provides a long-overdue opportunity to reassess them. The statue is one of the most precious statues in the country. Medieval sculptures," Buck said in a statement. "By using the latest science and technology and carefully inspecting this statue, we discovered more about how it was cast, assembled and completed."

Scientific analysis also shows that this statue was made by a group of medieval craftsmen who are experts in combat armor.

"Although the name of the artist has been forgotten by history, by carefully observing the production process of the sculpture, we have reconstructed the artist's artistic process, background and training, and even the assembly sequence of many sculptures. Research co-leader Emily Page Emily Pegues, a doctoral student in Courtaul and assistant curator of sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, she said in a statement.

According to the Medievalists.net website, in addition to using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on the statue, the researchers also inserted a video probe through the existing opening to view the internal structure of the tomb statue. Similar to endoscopy, the device has a long tube with a light and camera to check hidden things.

“It’s exciting to be able to see the inside of the sculpture with an endoscope: we found the bolts and pins holding the statue together, which shows that it’s pieced together like a puzzle, revealing evidence of its production stage, which no one has seen since then After the 1380s," Pegues said.

David Kindy is Smithsonian's daily correspondent. He is also a journalist, freelance writer and book critic based in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He writes articles on history, culture, and other topics for aerospace, military history, World War II, Vietnam, aviation history, Providence magazine and other publications and websites.

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