St Michael and All Angels, Great Witley, Ceiling Paintings

Conservation of the ceiling paintings, which are oil on canvas, of St Michael and All Angels Church which was built as a chapel in 1733-35 by the 2nd Baron Foley of Witley Court. In 1747 Lord Foley bought the paintings, stained glass and the organ case from the Duke of Chandos; chapel at Canons in Middlesex. He arranged for Gibbs, who built the chapel at Canons, to recreate the plasterwork ceiling and into this background he fitted the paintings. They are by Antonio Belucci, who was born in 1654 near Treviso in Italy. He came to England in 1716 and, during a six-year period in this country, he executed the paintings commissioned by the Duke of Chandos. The paintings were to be conserved as part of a repair programme for the whole curch.