St Marylebone Lecture Series: Benjamin West PRA and the Painting of the Holy Family with Dr Thomas Ardill and Rebecca Gregg Conservation 

This lecture will tell the story of Benjamin West’s painting The Holy Family, which he painted as the altarpiece for St. Marylebone Church in 1817-18. American-born West is not a particularly well-known artist today, but from his arrival in England in 1763 until his death in 1820, he was one of the most successful and famous artists in the country, serving as President of the Royal Academy and Painter to the King. For over 45 years, he led a campaign to establish a British school of ecclesiastical painting though the support of major patrons, public exhibitions and gifts. But despite his efforts, and the support of the King, other patrons, critics and the public, religious paintings never became a major component of British art in this period for a number of reasons to do with religious attitudes, artistic taste, and the market. The story of West’s paintings for St Marylebone, though a relatively minor commission, nevertheless provide important evidence for how art, religion and money conspired against Benjamin West and other sacred history painters to thwart their ambitions.

Thomas will be joined by Rebecca Gregg Conservation, who will discuss the recent restoration of the painting. 

Dr Thomas Ardill is a curator of paintings, prints and drawings at the Museum of London and an art historian specialising in J.M.W. Turner, British Romantic-era art and the art and social history of London. He achieved his doctorate at the Courtauld Institute in 2016 for his thesis: Between God, Art and Mammon: Religious Painting as a Public Spectacle in Britain, c.1800-1832. Thomas is currently working on a series of permanent displays for the museum’s reopening at West Smithfield in 2026, and a small exhibition about J.M.W. Turner and the environment for Turner’s House in Twickenham. 

£5

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The Art and Architecture of St Marylebone: Past and Present

This Spring, St. Marylebone’s Lecture Series will explore the art and architecture of the Parish Church, highlighting the craftsmanship of the past while celebrating our recent renovations. The lectures will tell St. Marylebone’s stories through art and offer different ways of looking at the space. We have an incredible range of historians, artists, and conservators, who will each share a different insight.  

Lectures:

Wednesday 3rd April: Art in the Apse with Sophie Hacker 

Wednesday 17th April: Stained Glass in the City with Alexandra Epps 

Wednesday 24th April: Benjamin West PRA and The Painting of the Holy Family with Dr Thomas Ardill (Museum of London) and Rebecca Gregg Conservation 

Wednesday 1st May: Stories in Stone: History, Craft, and Conservation with Victoria Perry and Tony Dyson (Donald Insall Associates) and Fintan Morrison (Sally Strachey Conservation)

Wednesday 29th May: Adapting Church Architecture for the Modern Landscape with Dr Kate Jordan (Westminster University) and Mark Hammond (Caroe Architecture)