Get up close to the beautiful Painted Hall, also known as Britain’s Sistine Chapel
Described as ‘the Sistine Chapel of the UK’, the Painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, has just re-opened after undergoing major transformation over the past two years, including the conservation of the amazing Sir James Thornhill’s painted ceiling. Visitors can now get an up-close look at this fabulous work of art.
The Painted Hall is the greatest piece of decorative painting in England created by Sir James Thornhill between 1708 and 1727, and framed by trompe l’oeil architecture. The paintings celebrate the royal founders of the Hospital, William III and Mary II, together with successive monarchs, Anne and George I and make the hall is the jewel of the Old Royal Naval College, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and opened in 1694, as the Royal Hospital for Seamen by King William III and Queen Mary II.
The Painted Hall catapulted Thornhill to fame and he subsequently won important commissions, including the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, the chapel ceiling of Queen’s College Oxford and the hall of Blenheim Palace. He was appointed history painter-in-ordinary to the king in 1718, sergeant-painter to the king in 1720, and knighted in the same year.
Over the past two years, conservators have worked on 3,400 square meters of painted surface, bringing new life and vibrancy to paintings obscured by decades of decay. A new visitor route and a range of sophisticated environmental controls have been designed to ensure no further intervention will be necessary for 100 years.
