\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph11340 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 Sculpture was one of the great artistic legacies of the Church in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately much of it did not s
urvive Henry VIIIÆs deliberate vandalism in dissolving the monasteries in the late 1530s. However, since Westminster Abbey was both a monastic complex and the \ATXnt901 royal coronation\ATXnt0 church, it was spared that destructive onslaught. As a resu
lt, it contains the finest collection of medieval sculpture in London. A typical feature of such works is the idealisation of the human figure.
