Tag Archives: The Church

The Ellesmere Defacement

Yesterday’s post included a picture of Chaucer’s Monk from The Canterbury Tales. The portrait seems to be smudged and what the hell’s that on his head? A porkpie hat? He’s a rather goulish-looking figure, all told, and nothing like the “manly man” Chaucer describes in The General Prologue: His heed was balled, that shoon as