At St Michael’s in Alnwick stands a rare early-fourteenth-century Flemish muniment chest, made to safeguard documents and valuables.
Its long wooden front has become a miniature medieval world, alive with huntsmen, hounds, deer, foliage and fantastic creatures. Winged dragons confront one another, their tails unfurling into leaves, while strange human-headed beasts peer from the surrounding panels.
Its beauty lies in that tension between the practical solidity of a strong chest and the restless dream-world released across its surface. It is furniture transformed into a wonderful medieval bestiary.
The figures seem to jump out of frontal and still seem to be relishing their ventures even after all these years. Go beyond the detail and look at the patina of the wood and the lock and key.
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