ABSTRACT
In this paper, I argue that analysis of the imagery associated with the late medieval cloister of Norwich Cathedral priory sheds light on crucial issues of the statement of belief and purpose in the monastery, suggesting that the choice and use of imagery in this institutional environment was a direct response to challenges from other authorities. I explore some of the means by which visual imagery indicates attitudes to religious orthodoxy and worship, in terms of learning and the interpretation of scripture, of rituals and their organisation, and also through didactic ambitions to reinforce the authority of the Bible. Aspects of the choice and placing of imagery of the Norwich cloister bosses are seen as responses to particular historical and intellectual circumstances relating to broader political and religious agendas in and beyond the monastery.
