St Albans contains one of the most extensive sets of medieval wall paintings to survive in any of the great English churches, ranging in date from the early 12th century to the Tudor period. These provide a unique picture of how the decoration of an abbey church would have functioned in the Middle Ages, as a material expression of a deeply Christian culture where the spaces in the church acted as sites for prayer and devotion. This authoritative and accessible study of the full range of paintings, written by art historian Dr M. A. Michael and illustrated with specially commissioned new photography, offers a detailed discussion of the individual images and sets them in their wider artistic context.
