“Immediately under the Crucifixion are the words, ‘Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi’; and below again, within an arcade of three arches are the brazen serpent, Moses, and Aaron--one bearing his rod, the other his ‘rod that budded.’ Under the figure of Ecclesia is St. David, in a grey monastic robe, bestowing alms. Under Synagoga, he is addressing the Bishops at Brefi.... He stands in the centre, while the Bishops are seated round, with a white robed Abbot in the foreground.”[25]
The golden ground which backs the mosaics sets off advantageously the delicate garb and pale flesh-tinting of the principal figures. The borders and other ornaments are rich and varied in colour; and considering that the east end of the presbytery is somewhat dimly lit, it was unquestionably desirable that the designs of the mosaics should be firm in drawing. The heads are perhaps the best part, which is no small achievement, being as a rule the worst executed. The effect of the mosaics, with their shimmer of gold, and solemn figures lighting up the dark wall of the sanctuary, is by no means bad, and, moreover, they harmonise with the deep hues of the surrounding stonework. There is a pleasing fitness, too, in the “Old coat” of the Lucys being placed in the pavement of the presbytery, and stained glass above--a memorial no less of the former Bishop than of the giver of these handsome decorations.
“In honorem Dei, et in memoriam Gulielmi Lucy, S.T.P., hujus Ecclesiæ Cathedralis regnante Carolo Secundo, præclari episcopi; has picturas murales et fenestras superne pietate adductus, dat dedicat Johannes Lucy per multos annos Hamptoni Luci Rector, A.D. 1871.”
The panelled roof of the presbytery is of flat pitch, and dates from the period of Owen Pole’s treasurership (1472-1509), to whom also that same feature of the nave is attributed. Scott restored the ancient decorations, ignoring that of the seventeenth century, when he was forced to repair and largely renovate the much-decayed beams, &c. The beams are so large that considerable difficulty was experienced before suitable oaks could be found; these were eventually procured from Salop, Radnor, Hereford, and the Forest of Dean. The main bosses are richly blazoned with shields and gilt, and the armorial bearings include those of Bishop Robert Tully (1461-1481), Bishop Richard Martyn (1482-1483), and those of Edmund, Earl of Richmond, impaling Lady Margaret. Freeman says[26] “the arms of Tully and Martyn occurred also in the clearly contemporary upper east window.” If this was contemporary glass we trust it has been carefully preserved. The entry in 1490, which is repeated in 1492, “Et sol 9£ 4ᵈ. Dʳ ⁱ Oweno Pole Mʳᵒ operis ad usũ fabriciæ per venerabilẽ patrem Robertū nuper Menev. Epūm per suas litteras patentes assignat,”[27] seems to imply an annual payment, and that probably this roof was completed soon after this date. The colouring is rather bright in black, white, and red, and the ornaments are on a ground of yellowish white. The shields adorn their original positions, and those not mentioned above are France and England quartered, Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., Rhys ap Tudor, Bishop Gomeg, and that assigned to Rhodri Mawr, King of Gwynedd, killed 877. The corbels receiving the walling shafts had lost their decorations, and Scott re-blazoned them with the arms of the Bishop, Dean, Canons, and Archdeacons of 1864.[28]