Portraits of distinguished members of ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ past and present have been re-positioned in the dining hall to showcase more art from the College’s collection.
Work as part of the ongoing Decarbonisation Project – replacing the heating emitters in Hall – necessitated the removal of the portraits. Re-hanging them presented an opportunity to rethink the order of the displays.
Curator of Portraits Dr Melissa Calaresu, Deputy Curator of Portraits James Cox, the College Archivist, and the College Collections Sub-Committee – succeeding the Portraits and Memorials Sub-committee – have sought to ensure as many of the College community can see as many of the College art works in public rooms as possible.
The hang in Hall had been quite sparse and the Sub-committee opted to add more portraits, to include numerous Caius Masters, Companions of Honour, and distinguished Fellows, including one of our great Benefactors, Patricia Crone, whose portrait was previously in the Senior Parlour.
The portraits of Companions of Honour include , , and – three of these four were Caius Masters. The portrait of , who as well as being an eminent mathematician transcribed the College Annals and collated Biographical Histories of alumni, is alongside them.
Dr Christina Faraday, an Art Historian and member of the Sub-committee, advised on the positioning of the Tudor portraits around High Table, where Fellows and their guests dine. The portraits are now, from left to right: Robert Trapps; Joan Trapps; John Caius; Thomas Legge; Joyce Frankland.
Robert and Joan were Joyce's parents, and their portraits are intended to be seen as a pair, facing each other, making eye contact. Caius remains in the middle, but now is next to the Master who succeeded him, Legge. Joyce Frankland on the end faces left, so now she is looking into the hall from the right. As a whole, the arrangement has the first two post-refoundation Masters flanked on both sides by important donors from the same period.
The Sub-committee would like to thank the Housekeeping Porters and Maintenance staff for hanging the portraits.
Previously, , has been brought into the White Room, in the Senior Combination Rooms.
