I hope you enjoyed a visit Knebworth House on Parish Open Day, and saw for the first time our revised exhibition space. Did you notice the sketch on the wall that was uncovered when we removed the old 1970s Delhi Durbar tent effect that was the basis of the old exhibition? Even though the sketch does not relate to the theme of the room, we have chosen to leave it uncovered and to tell the story of how it came to be there.
On the weekend of Saturday 15th July 1939 the British artist, Reginald John ‘Rex’ Whistler, came to stay at Knebworth House as a guest of my great-grandparents Pamela and Victor Lytton. During his stay, Whistler made plans to paint a large crucifixion scene for St Mary’s Church. After lunch, he popped into what was then an old Rackets Court – with an idea of making it his studio – and sketched these figures on the wall to illustrate his ideas.
Whistler could not start the painting at that time as he was working on a room at Mottisfont in Hampshire, but his thank you letter to Pamela reveals how excited he was to get started, and gives an idea of the Crucifixion scene he envisaged. Sadly, he never got to return to Knebworth, as he was killed in action that same July week five years later. If Easter takes you to St Mary’s, consider how the church would look with this remarkable Easter scene on the wall.
Henry Lytton Cobbold
@henrycobboldkh
