The paintings depict the origin, education, development, expansion and triumph of the British Empire, leading up to the Covenant of the League of Nations, the names of the 32 original signatories of the League adorning the arches of the corridors on which the mural decorations are placed.
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BRITANNIA SPONSA
This picture represents the seafarers or successive waves of oversea tribes landing to obtain possession of Britannia, conceived as a wild, fair-haired shepherd girl, and the withdrawal of an earlier and ruder race. The vision of the Angel between the two groups holding the chalice (an echo of the Glastonbury Legend) represents the spirit of Christianity. In the foreground the Roman occupation is hinted at in the broken fragments of classical architecture amongst the irises, and the white cliffs of Albion fill up the middle distance. |
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BRITANNIA NUTRIX
The Bride becomes the Mother, and, in the Springtime of the race, the Arts of Peace are represented by Ploughing, Music, Pottery, Spinning, Reading, etc. But, above all, the rearing of a sturdy race of children and the mother's devotion are emphasised - Britain the Motherland. |
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BRITANNIA BELLATRIX
Britannia is teaching her sons those bodily exercises and manly sports which will fit them to take their part in war should it come. It is not 'Warfare' but the 'Art of War' which is being inculcated. In contrast with the gay, light treatment of the 'Nutrix' panel, the tall pines and subdued tones of the figures are in sympathy with the sterner trials of life. |
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BRITANNIA MATER COLONORUM
The subject of this picture is the spirit of the expansion of the race overseas. The mother of the colonists holds the trident aloft; she has won it fairly, and she sends forth her sons to seek their fortunes. The ruling passion holds even the little ones, who in the foreground launch their tiny boat upon the waves. |
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Copyright: These pages are reproduced by kind permission of Mrs Marina Rainey.
