Seated in a polygonal space which recalls the Gothic Chapter House, the canons meet to elect William as the next archbishop. In typical Thornton style, the scene is animated by the gestures of the figures, and by the contrasting colours of their robes and the variety of their headgear. The figure in white with a monastic tonsure (a thin circle of hair with shaved crown and neck) represents one of the monastic members of the chapter. A junior cleric standing in the middle apparently reads from a book or letter.
