Eloise Donnelly, National Gallery Curatorial Trainee, discusses the legacy of the Lycett Green collection at York Art Gallery.

As my research of the Lycett Green Collection of Old Masters gathers pace, one of the things I’ve been struck by is how many of our paintings were bought or given as a direct result of Lycett Green’s bequest in 1955.

The gift gave York a foundation on which to build the world-class art collection for which it is famous today.

A fantastic example is the beautiful predella Bernardino Fungai painted for the Santa Maria dei Servi altarpiece in around 1498.

A predella consists of several small paintings joined together at the base of an altarpiece, often depicting scenes from the lives of the saints. Fungai’s colourful, slightly naïve and cartoon-like panels tell the story of the life of St. Clement, a bit like a Renaissance comic strip.

In 1929, Lycett Green found a piece of this predella at a London art dealer. It shows St. Clement on the Greek island of Chersonesus, where Christian exiles were forced to labour in intense heat with no drinking water. According to legend, Clement prayed to God who led him to a rocky outcrop.

He struck the rock with a pickaxe, and fresh, clear spring water gushed forth. You can see the water splashing as it spurts out, while a queue of thirsty workers in need refreshment builds up on the right.

This vibrant scene is enchanting in itself, and immediately proved itself a favourite with visitors when it went on display in 1955. However, in 1979, another piece from the same predella – another cell from the comic strip, if you like – emerged on the art market.

 

Here, we meet St. Clement three years after the miracle in Chersonesus, being tossed overboard during a voyage as punishment for his faith. An anchor has been tied around his neck to make sure he won’t be returning.

The fantastical ship with its billowing sails, the outsized St. Clement tumbling into the water and the wonderful tonal harmonies of blues and greens make this a real masterpiece, and after a fundraising campaign in 1979, York was able to reunite this picture with its companion.

The story does not end here, however. In 1991 a third panel came to light in the collection of the former rulers of the Philippines, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.

It shows Christ supported by two angels, a scene which was often shown at the central point of a predella, while in the background, we can see St. Clement’s ship disappearing beneath the waves. After another fundraising campaign, York added a third Fungai panel to its collection.

It’s brilliant to be able to show these three panels together – after all, they were all designed to be together originally – and they show how Lycett Green provided inspiration for acquisitions decades after his original gift.

When the gallery reopens next summer we’ll be able to see other examples of how his gift transformed our collections, but in the meantime, two of Fungai’s beautiful panels, and other masterpieces from the Lycett Green Collection are on display at the Masterstrokes exhibition at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate.