Refugees & Restoration

The picture of St John the Evangelist by Gaspar de Crayer (1582–1669) which hangs in the south aisle of Lancing Chapel has recently been beautifully restored. The picture was given to the College in 1930 by Prince Vladimir Galitzine.

It is possible that this was partly in lieu of fees but it was reported as a gift in the local press at the time. The Galitzine family escaped from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and came to live as refugees in Surrey. Their three sons, Princes Nicholas (Olds 1927–1931), George (Olds 1929–1932) and Emanuel (Olds 1931–1935) all attended Lancing during one of its golden eras. They established a strong link with the school and Emanuel’s two sons also both attended Lancing: Michael (Olds 1962–1966) and Emanuel (Olds 1964–1969).

Last year a distant cousin of the Galitzines, Sophie Reddington, a picture restorer based in Hove, who currently has three children at Lancing, generously offered to restore and conserve the painting. The painstaking task was carried out as work experience by two student conservators: Kateryna Havrylova and Olha Kvasnytsia who were living with the Reddingtons as refugees from Ukraine. The symbolic symmetry of displaced people finding sanctuary and of Russian and Ukrainian refugees being united through art is particularly moving.

On 13 February 2023, the Orthodox New Year’s Eve, a gathering of the Galitzine and Reddington families attended a brief ceremony in the Chapel to celebrate the rehanging of the picture which shows St John on the Island of Patmos seeking inspiration for the Book of Revelation. After the short service the family visited the copse of five silver birch trees – one for each Galitzine OL – near the Open Air Theatre, which the family gave to mark the Millennium and their long association with the College. This was the inspiration of Jeremy McLachlan, former Housemaster of Olds, who spearheaded replanting on the College estate after the 1987 hurricane.

Jeremy Tomlinson, Steward of Lancing Chapel

Restorer Sophie Reddington writes:

The painting in Lancing College Chapel was in poor condition, with paint lifting throughout, discoloured retouching, and a very patchy yellowlooking varnish. This painting was the perfect project for Katya and Olha to work on under my supervision, as it covers several areas of conservation challenges, which would introduce the girls to techniques and materials we use in the UK. The paint had to be consolidated with a stable Conservation-grade adhesive and a heating spatula. The old varnish layers were removed with solvent solutions which would not attack the original paint layers underneath. The reverse of the canvas and stretcher were cleaned using special sponges. Widespread paint losses were retouched with Conservation colours, and varnish layers were applied in several stages, creating an even semimatte surface.

We came together to celebrate the restoration and the re-instatement of the painting. It was wonderful to see several of Vladimir’s grandchildren attending, my boys giving a reading and being welcomed so warmly by the College.

The Sussex Heritage Trust

Lancing hosted the Trust’s lunchtime reception to launch their 2023 Awards Scheme. The Chapel was chosen as the venue because the new west porch won the ecclesiastical building category in 2022. The awards are ‘designed to recognise and reward high quality conservation, restoration and the good design of newly built projects and to encourage the use of traditional skills and crafts.’ The Chapel has won three awards and one highly commended certificate in recent years, recognising both the conservation and building achievements of The Friends of Lancing Chapel.

The event was a reminder of the importance of the Chapel to the whole heritage of Sussex as well as to the College and of our responsibility to conserve it in a sympathetic way. The work of the Friends continues unabated following the dedication of the porch and we are appealing to all those who belong to the Lancing community to become members and help to ensure the future of our spectacular building.