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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 murals were designed by Ethel Anderson and painted as a collaborative project by the Turramurra Wall Painters Union—a group of modernist painters founded by Anderson in 1927—among whom were Ethel Anderson, Bethia Anderson, sisters Gwen and Jean Ramsey, Roy de Maistre and Roland Wakelin.〔Diakowska-Czarnota, p. 3〕 Friends of the artists also helped on small parts of the painting. Some parts of the mural are attributable to individual artists and some are signed. The rector of St James' at the time, Philip Micklem, was a friend of Anderson and had invited the Turramurra Wall Painters Union to decorate the chapel.〔 The work was carried out between October and December 1929 and completed in time for Christmas; the first service being held on 22 December 1929. ==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."〔 A painted study by Anderson for the mural is held in the State Library of New South Wales.〔(SLNSW Catalogue record and access conditions. )〕 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." 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.〔 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."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Children's Chapel, St James' Church, Sydney」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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