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St. Helena, St.Eloi & blacksmith’s tools: Broughton, Bucks. (‡CCT*) C.15
Photo:T.Marshall
![SS. Helen & Eloi/blacksmith's tools [66KB]](broubhe.jpg)
The painting has, undeniably, been thoroughly restored - rather too enthusiastically, some would say - but I think much of the rather sentimental charm is probably original. The two saints, Helena on the left, stand against a diapered background, surrounded by a scrollwork border. Below them is a cluster of blacksmith’s tools and products of the forge, including many keys and padlocks (interestingly, the OED gives 1478 as the first known usage of this latter word) along with horse-trappings complete with horse (at the right) and much else.
All of these, shown here against a squared pattern suggesting a chequered floor, are attributes of St. Eloi, who was a blacksmith and goldsmith in his earlier life, before he became eventually bishop of Noyon in France.
St. Helena holds her own attribute, a Tau cross representing the True Cross she was said to be largely responsible for finding. It was firmly believed in medieval England that Helena, mother of the first Christian Emperor Constantine, was an English princess - a daughter of the legendary King Coel of Colchester - in fact she was born at Drepanum, later Helenopolis, in Bithynia. Although she is painted as a youthful virgin here, Helena, born a pagan, became a Christian only in her sixties, and proved exceptionally devout and generous to churches and to the poor. I know of no specific connection between her and St. Eloi that would account for their pairing at Broughton, but it may be that since Eloi was a particularly eloquent denouncer of vestigial paganism, both saints were seen as defenders of Christianity. Or perhaps the fact that the two have homophonically similar names has something to do with it.
All of the paintings at Broughton are now on the site. Here are links to St. George & the Dragon, The Warning to Swearers and the Doom.
| St. Andrew Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland |
St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read-Corby Glen, Lincolnshire |
St. Antony and the Pig, Barton, Cambridgeshire |
St. Barbara : Hessett, Suffolk |
St. Bartholomew : Selling, Kent |
St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Castor, Cambs |
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Hardley Street, Norfolk |
| St.Catherine of Alexandria : Old Weston, Northants |
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Pickering, N. Yorks |
St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Sporle, Norfolk |
St. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon.
| St. Dunstan holding the Devil by the nose : Barton, Cambs |
St.Edmund : Boxford, Suffolk |
St. Edmund : Lakenheath, Suffolk |
| St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Bishopsbourne, Kent |
St.Edmund, Martyrdom of : Fritton, Norfolk |
St. Edmund (or St. Walstan) : Gisleham, Norfolk |
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N.Yorks |
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Stoke Dry, Rutland |
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Troston, Suffolk |
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Weare Giffard, Devon |
| St.Eloi, Broughton, Bucks |
St. Eloi and the possessed horse, Slapton, Northants |
St. Eloi, as bishop & blacksmith, Wensley, N.Yorks |
St.Erasmus, Martyrdom of : Chippenham, Cambs |
St. Etheldreda : Willingham, Cambs |
St.Francis Preaching to the Birds : Wissington, Suffolk
|
St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Slapton, Northants |
| St. George & Dragon : Banningham, Norfolk |
St. George & Dragon : Broughton, Bucks |
St. George & Dragon : Earl Stonham, Suffolk |
St. George & Dragon : Fritton, Norfolk |
St. George & Dragon : Hornton, Oxon |
St. George dedicating himself to the Virgin : Astbury, Cheshire |
St. George, with the princess : Little Kimble, Bucks |
| St.Helena, Broughton, Bucks |
St.James the Great : Hales, Norfolk |
Life of St. James, Stoke Orchard, Gloucestershire |
St. James the Great, meeting pilgrims : Wisborough Green, Sussex |
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks |
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Heydon, Norfolk
|
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Idsworth, Hampshire |
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Old Weston, Northants |
Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset |
St. John the Evangelist, Selling, Kent |
St. John the Evangelist, Weston Longville, Norfolk |
St. Margaret of Antioch : Old Weston, Northants |
St. Margaret and the dragon : South Newington, Oxfordshire |
St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland |
St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey |
Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex |
Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Duxford, Cambridgeshire NEW |
St. Martin dividing his cloak, Chalgrave, Beds |
St. Martin dividing his cloak, Wareham, Dorset |
St.Nicholas of Myra, life of : Little Horwood, Bucks |
St. Nicholas of Myra, two miracles of : Wissington, Suffolk |
St.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon |
St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon |
St. Paul : Selling, Kent |
St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon |
St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon |
St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants |
St. Peter : Selling, Kent
| St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs |
St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs |
St. Stephen, Stoning of: Black Bourton, Oxon |
St. Stephen, Stoning of: Catfield, Norfolk |
St.Swithun (?) enthroned : Old Weston, Northants |
Scenes from the life of St. Swithun : Corhampton, Hampshire |
St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs. |
| St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset |
St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, North Stoke, Oxfordshire NEW |
St.Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Burlingham, Norfolk |
St. Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Newington, Oxfordshire
| St. Walstan of Bawburgh? or St. Edmund : Gisleham, Norfolk |
St. Zita : Horley, Oxon |
St. Zita : Shorthampton, Oxon |
| Unidentified female saint : Heydon | |
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