The Chapel of Trinity College Oxford

• Detailed and highly illustrated study of this late 17th-century masterpiece of art and architecture, written by one of Britain’s leading art historians
• Featuring fine new photography of the Chapel by Tim Rawle

The Chapel of Trinity College Oxford, completed in 1694, is a magnificent essay in integrated form, effect, function and meaning. The harmonious ease of the design draws on the architectural vocabulary of Christopher Wren, yet speaks with its own, distinct accent. A remarkable campaign of interior decoration resulted in one of the most effective and integrated ensembles of painting and sculpture in any chapel in Britain, including altar carvings by Grinling Gibbons and a ceiling painting of Christ in Glory by Pierre Berchet.

Martin Kemp, the renowned art historian, has been a Fellow of Trinity College since 1995, and in this volume he pays tribute to the masterpiece of art and architecture within his own college’s walls that has fascinated him over the years. He argues that Ralph Bathurst, the 16th-century President of the College, is the effective ‘author’ of the chapel. The book is illustrated with specially commissioned photography by Tim Rawle, as well as historic documents from the college and university archives.

Martin Kemp is Emeritus Professor in the History of Art at Oxford University, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. A world authority on Leonardo da Vinci, he has published extensively on Renaissance art and links between art and science.