Children's Chapel, St James' Church, Sydney
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The Chapel of Saint Mary and the Angels (usually known as the Children's Chapel) is a chapel in one of the bays of the crypt of St James' Church, Sydney, created as a place for younger children to receive an adapted form of the Eucharist on Sundays. In the 21st century, the chapel is used for the children's Eucharist on the first Sunday of the month. The walls and ceiling of the chapel are painted with scenes inspired by the Christmas carol "As I Sat Under A Sycamore Tree" with the setting transferred to Sydney Harbour.
The
As I Sat Under A Sycamore Tree
As I sat under a sycamore tree,
A sycamore tree, a sycamore tree,
I looked me out upon the sea,
On Christ's Sunday morn.
I saw three ships a sailing there,
A sailing there, a sailing there;
Jesu, Mary and Joseph they bare,
On Christ's Sunday at morn.
Jesu did whistle and Mary did sing,
Mary did sing, Mary did sing,
And all the bells on earth did ring,
For joy, our Lord was born.
O they sail'd in to Bethlehem,
To Bethlehem to Bethlehem;
St Michael was the steersman
Saint John sate in the horn.
And all the bells on earth did ring,
On earth did ring, on earth did ring;
Welcome be Thou, Heaven's King,
On Christ's Sunday at morn.[4]
Concept
The concept behind the murals, as explained by Ethel Anderson, was "to bring the story of Bethlehem into surroundings perfectly familiar to the mind of the Australian child, and to give these familiar surroundings a beauty strange enough to awaken wonder in a child's mind, so that through this wonder might come a suggestion that beyond the world they know there is another world; to show the spiritual by means of the material."[3] A painted study by Anderson for the mural is held in the State Library of New South Wales.[5]
Artistically, the aim was to give the impression of an illuminated manuscript citing specifically the Book of Kells and the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry as influences. Anderson wrote: "That is why we have used so much gold, and why we are allowing a slight archaic touch to show in the drawing and in our choice and arrangement of colour."[2] The artists referred to photographs to help with their depictions of children, yachts and the harbour. One of these sources was the work of well-known photographer Harold Cazneaux.[2]
The use of over three thousand leaves of gold leaf in the artistic scheme produced a shimmering effect that was reported at the time. The Home magazine of February 1930 commented that "at every change of light, bright facets from it dart from one wall to the other touching to brightness haloes, wings, spires, spars or the decks and riggings of ships, all made of gold. When the chapel is full of children, their clothes are mirrored in it."[3]
Imagery
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Detail_of_Children%27s_chapel_mural%2C_St_James_Church_Sydney_%286%29brighter.jpg/180px-Detail_of_Children%27s_chapel_mural%2C_St_James_Church_Sydney_%286%29brighter.jpg)
The images in the murals depict the
On the left side is the north shore of Sydney with
The ceiling features arches of blue and gold with panels of fuchsias and flowering cedar for the sycamore of the text.[6] On the North wall is an image of a man in clerical vestments, a style that was depreciated in the Diocese of Sydney in the 1930s for being "popish", providing an important historical record of church practice of the time of the painting.[7]
Conservation
In 1952, Anderson carried out some remedial work on the murals but requested that no further work be done during her lifetime. She died in 1958. By the 1980s the murals had deteriorated so much that the chapel had to be closed. Large sections of the paint were being lost as a result of crystalline salts on the wall surface forcing off the painted plaster and gold leaf. With a grant from the
Gallery
Sources
- Diakowska-Czarnota, Anna; Werstak, Arek (1994). "Conservation and restoration of the mural paintings from the Children's Chapel in the Church of St James, King Street, Sydney: looking for the method of transfer" (PDF). Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials Bulletin. 19 (3–4): 3–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
References
- ^ Diakowska-Czarnota, p. 3
- ^ a b c "The Children's Chapel (of St Mary and the Angels)". St James Church, King Street, Sydney. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ ISBN 0-7022-3189-4.
- ^ Text of As I Sat Under A Sycamore Tree Rickert, Edith (1914). "Ancient English Christmas Carols: 1400-1700". London: Chatto & Windus. p. 255. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ Anderson, Ethel (1929). "Design for children's chapel : [a study by Ethel Anderson for a fresco for the children's chapel in St. James' Church] 1929 ML 1078". State Library of New South Wales.
- ^ a b A Local Setting for a European Text, Anglican Church of Australia website, retrieved 25 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011.
- ^ Diakowska-Czarnota, p. 4
- ^ "25 iconic projects". International Conservation Services. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ^ Diakowska-Czarnota, p. 19
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