The restored murals at the Oxford Oratory

The restoration of the murals on either side of the Sanctuary at the Oxford Oratory, about which I wrote recently, has now been completed. Painted for the Jesuits who then cared for the parish by the Catholic artist Gabriel Pippet ( 1880-1962 ) in the years 1905-7 they were fated to be painted over in the 1950s by the Jesuits in their last years at the church.  

There is more about Pippet and these murals, which were his earliest commission, his later work at Oxford and, most notably, at the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria in Droitwich, on the Oxford Oratory website at Uncovering the Sanctuary Murals

The paintings depict St Aloysius’ First Communion at the hands of St Charles Borromeo, St Aloysius leaving home to join the Jesuits, his profession, and his death.

It is splendid to see these paintings revealed and restored. They look very fine and notably better than when they were partially, and very briefly, uncovered over a decade ago during the previous phase of work on the Sanctuary. 

 

Image: Oxford Oratory