‘Old St Paul’s’: The Society of Antiquaries’ Diptych, 1616

Fund-raising is a truly ecumenical subject and a matter for perennial concern for those who have the care of great buildings like St. Paul’s Cathedral.  In this study of ‘Old St. Paul’s’, the 1616 diptych in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries of London gives us a glimpse of a time in the first quarter of the seventeenth century when the Cathedral was in an especially dilapidated condition.  The diptych pictures a sermon being preached at St. Paul’s Cross in the presence of the King.