New Altar Painting in Campion Chapel

Depicting the Christ appearing to Mary in the Garden after his resurrection, the painting was originally commissioned as an altarpiece by All Souls College in 1769. In recent history, the painting had been on display at The National Gallery until 2011, after which it was moved into storage. While various attempts have been made over the years to find a suitable institution that could display the work, including the Ashmolean and Auckland Castle, the immense size of the painting, measuring 3.2m by 2m, and the associated conservation care required, made the task of finding a new home challenging, so the painting remained in storage and unseen.

In September 2021, the Warden of All Souls College, John Vickers, approached the Master of Campion Hall to ask whether the Hall, in light of its art collection, would be interested in displaying the painting on loan from All Souls. Following the Hall’s agreement and formal request for the work, Mark Slattery, Senior Art Handling Technician at The National Gallery, made a number of site visits to assess the Hall’s suitability, including the all-important logistical question: was it actually feasible to get the painting into the chapel? For this purpose, a test frame of the same dimensions was constructed so that a mock run could be carried out.

It seemed providential that Campion Hall’s chapel had the right space and requirements necessary to display Noli me tangere. According to Slattery, the biggest challenge was getting the painting up and around the Lutyens stairs. As it turned out, if the painting had been just a few inches wider, it would have been impossible to transport it without resorting to alternative methods (such as dismantling the individual planks of the panel) that would have significantly complicated the process.

It took a six-person team from Momart and some very creative maneuvering around the stairs to successfully transport the painting (the frame and the panel were moved separately) to the chapel – a slow and careful process watched over diligently by Peter Davidson, Curator of Campion Hall. The final leg of the journey involved shifting the painting with meticulous care around the altar to the back of the chapel, where, inch by inch, it was lifted up by a pulley. A small audience of Hall members gathered to witness the final moment when the painting was bolted to its final location.

Alice Calloway, Collection Registrar at The National Gallery, commented:

“I am delighted that we have finally found a new home for the painting. Transporting the work to Campion Hall has been a complicated process; our Conservation and Art Handling team, led by Britta New from Conservation and Mark Slattery from Art Handling, have worked incredibly hard to prepare the work, continually mindful of the safety and care of the painting during the preparation, transport, movement and finally the install. Seeing the work finally displayed on the wall on Friday was a joy and testament to the hard work and perseverance of colleagues at The National Gallery and Campion Hall. We hope that it will bring great happiness to all who visit the chapel.”

To celebrate the successful installation of Noli me tangere, All Souls Fellows joined the Hall for Solemn Vespers on 15 June, during which the painting was dedicated. The special occasion was also marked by the premiere of two pieces by contemporary composers associated with the Hall, Chris Willcock SJ and Luca Uggias, who have written the music especially in honour of this occasion.

Campion Hall is grateful to All Souls College and everyone who has been involved in supporting the installation of this magnificent painting, which we hope will be enjoyed by many for years to come.

Photo credit: Special thanks to Olivier Delouis for visually documenting the process.