Pilkington painting
The "Pilkington Painting" in Rivington Church, Rivington, Lancashire, was commissioned in 1566 by Bishop Pilkington, in memory of his father who built the church. The original picture measured 53 by 35 inches and was considerably damaged by a fire in 1834, and in 1904 its remains were in the possession of Colonel John Pilkington of Wavertree. A copy had been made in 1821 for Mr. John Pilkington of Bolton, by his daughter Miss Jane Noble Pilkington. A copy of the 1821 painting was commissioned in 1835 by Rivington Church, where it is on display today.
Columns in the painting are a stylised representation of Durham Cathedral. On the left column is an heraldic escutcheon displaying the arms of Sir Robert Pilkington, second son of Sir Roger Pilkington (died 1347), lord of the manor of
Pilkington, Stand: Argent, a cross patonce gules voided of the field, with a crescent azure for difference of a second son, in the dexter chief, surmounted by the crest, A mower with his scythe.
At right: Arms of the See of Durham impaling Pilkington, with a chief of augmentation granted to Bishop James Pilkington on 10 February 1561, by Sir Gilbert Dethicke, Garter King of Arms. Augmented arms of Bishop Pilkington: Argent, a cross patonce gules voided of the field on a chief vert, three suns or, with the mark of cadency of a second son. Above these arms is a figure of the Bishop, wearing his Episcopal robes, and the cap peculiar to those times.
Beneath the shield is a triple carved Elizabethan frame. The centre panel shows the arms of the bishop impaling the canting arms of Kingsmill (Argent, semée of cross-crosslets fitchée sable, a chevron ermines between three millrinds of the second a chief ermine), for his wife, Alice Kingsmill, daughter of Sir John Kingsmill of Sidmanton.
Grouped round the table at the bottom left of the painting are Richard and his seven sons, and across the table, Alice and her five daughters. James, the bishop is depicted in his rochet, red gurnard and gown.
At the top of the painting is the inscription,'VTVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS', 'Virtue lives after death'. The inscriptions contained in the four cut and scrolled Elizabethan framework panels:
Richard Pilkinton (sic), who built this church, was buried here, in the year of Our Lord 1551, and 24 May, then Trinity Sunday, aged 65. A man of good esteem.
Alice Asshawe, his wife, bore him 12 children, of whom three are preachers and of St. John's College Cambridge, she lived eighty years. Fathers teach your children nurture and learning of the Lord.
James, their son, became Bishop of Durham on 2 March, in the year 1560, and in the 42nd year of his life. He opened this school in the year 1566 and church. Children obey your parents in the Lord.
Let your lights shine so before men ye they may see ye good works, O father in heaven. Lord Save Us. We perish. Lord increase our faith.
