On the right of the altar in St Andrew's church you'll find these four smiling faces. They're part of a piscina - a niche containing a dip where a priest can / could wash the communion vessels. The piscinas we've seen never look very big so I'm guessing the washing isn't like when you do the washing up. It's about a more symbolic purification. Although if you believe, I suppose it's not symbolic to you, it's actual purification. Ah it's potentially very complicated isn't it. Especially when you introduce the idea of Transubstantiation, but that the C of E don't go that far. I think I'll just stick to the sculptures.
The faces are super smiley. You can see some photos on the
CRSBI website. Those make me wonder whether the figures haven't got traces of arms - or at least, v-necked outfits. Since there's four of them, you're inclined to imagine they're the four evangelists.
Images © Rhiannon 2014
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