Published to mark the reopening of the spectacular baroque interior
of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich after a landmark
conservation project, The Painted Hall is a wonderful celebration
of what has been called `the Sistine Chapel of the UK'. The ceiling
and wall decorations of the Painted Hall were conceived and
executed by the artist Sir James Thornhill between 1707 and 1726 -
years that witnessed the Act of Union during the reign of Queen
Anne and Great Britain's rise to become a dominant Protestant power
in a predominantly Catholic Europe. The accessions to the throne of
William III and Mary II in 1688 and George I in 1714 form the
central narrative of a scheme that also honours Britain's maritime
successes and mercantile prosperity. The artist drew on a cast of
around 200 figures - a mixture of historical, contemporary,
allegorical and mythological characters - to tell a story of
political change, scientific and cultural achievements, naval
endeavours, and commercial enterprise against a series of
magnificent backdrops. In the first part of the book, Dr Anya Lucas
describes the history and architecture of the building and the
background to Thornhill's commission. The grandeur of his
composition, which covers 40,000 square feet, reflects the
importance of the space that the paintings adorn: the hall of the
new Royal Hospital for Seamen. The Hospital was established in 1694
at Queen Mary's instigation for men invalided out of the Navy, and
was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor. The
Painted Hall was originally intended as a grand dining room, but it
soon became a ceremonial space open to paying visitors and reserved
for special functions. The last naval pensioners left the site in
1869, when it became home to the Royal Naval College, an officers'
training academy. The passage of nineteen years from the start of
the commission to its completion, and the need to navigate
contemporary political events, meant that Thornhill was required to
rethink the design of his paintings several times. His preparatory
sketches for the Painted Hall reveal how carefully he experimented
with and planned the content. When he had finished his work,
Thornhill wrote An Explanation of the paintings, which was
published by the Hospital directors and sold to visitors. This
guide is the subject of the second part of our book, by Dr Richard
Johns. Johns also explores image and meaning in Thornhill's
decorative scheme, which stretches across three distinct but
connected spaces: the domed Vestibule, the long Lower Hall, and the
Upper Hall, together presenting a vivid and compelling picture of
Britain's place in the world according to those who governed it at
the start of the 18th century. During the last 300 years, smoke and
dirt built up on the fragile painted surfaces of the Hall, and
varnish layers fractured under the effects of heat and humidity. In
the final part of the book, the specialist conservators Sophie
Stewart and Stephen Paine consider historic restorations of the
Painted Hall from the 18th century to the Ministry of Works
campaign of the late 1950s. The spring of 2019 sees the completion
of a ground-breaking conservation programme that has reversed
decades of decay and ensured the long-term preservation of the
paintings. Now that every inch of decorated surface has been
lovingly cleaned and conserved, new photography brings the colour,
clarity and vibrancy of Thornhill's masterpiece to life.
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