nd
the lowest scene of the life of St Katherine of Alexandria were very badly
damaged by the attachments of mural tablets. On the whole, however, the
paintings when uncovered were in a good state of preservation, and the
colours were more vivid than they were left after the re-touching by Mr
Jewitt.

[Illustration: Some of the Wall Paintings in Pickering Church.

THE SEVEN CORPORAL ACTS OF MERCY.

They are, from left to right:--(1) Feeding the hungry (partly missing in
photograph)[A]; (2) Giving drink to the thirsty; (3) Compelling the
stranger to come in; (4) Clothing the naked; (5) Visiting those in prison;
(6) Visiting the sick; (7) Burying the dead.

[Footnote A: This appears in another photograph showing scenes from the
life of our Lord.]

The martyrdom of St Edmund.

[_The Copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk._] ]

Taking the pictures along the north wall in order, the first is the huge
representation of St George, then facing the porch entrance on a still
larger scale is the figure of St Christopher, bearing on his left shoulder
the infant Christ. This position, facing these who enter the church, is
the usual one for St Christopher, for he was the patron-saint of
travellers, and the size is in keeping with the tradition which speaks of
the saint as standing twelve cubits high. He is shown using a tree as his
staff, and the Evil One is being trampled underfoot in the form of a
serpent.

Adjoining St Christopher is the curious painting showing Herod's Feast, a
very rare subject to be chosen for wall paintings. Although this picture
has been so much restored the figures were very carefully traced out where
only faint indications could be seen, so that it now presents the original
work where it was not totally destroyed with considerable accuracy. It is
really three scenes, although it appears as one. Herod's daughter is on
the right performing a mediaeval tumble dance before the king and queen and
their two guests, and on the left St John the Baptist is shown, still
kneeling, although his head lies on the pavement. Salome is holding the
charger against her breast. In the central portion of the picture she
appears carrying the head of St John in the dish. The picture above this
shows the coronation of the Virgin Mary, and the wall of heaven is higher
still.

The martyrdom of St Edmund in the next spandrel is a most realistic
picture. The saint is tied to a tree and is pierced by fourteen arrows.
The b