Painted Hall, The

Sir James Thornhill's Masterpiece at Greenwich

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. The artist drew on a cast of around 200 figures 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, Anya Lucas describes the history and architecture of the building and the background to Thornhill’s commission. The grandeur of his composition 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 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. When he had finished his work, he 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 Richard Johns. Johns takes as his theme 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 compelling picture of Britain’s place in the world according to those who governed it at the start of the 18th century. 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 saw the completion of a ground-breaking conservation programme that has ensured the long-term preservation of the paintings. Now that every inch of decorated surface has been painstakingly cleaned and conserved, new photography brings the colour, clarity and vibrancy of Thornhill’s masterpiece to life.