St Mary Redcliffe project 450 Initial Options Appraisal

10.0 EXPLORING OPPORTUNITY - HERITAGE ASSET REVIEW
To gain a greater understanding of St Mary Redcliffe’s collection of artefacts, their signifi cance
and condition, a Heritage Asset Review was undertaken by Rita McClean, Museums & Heritage
Consultant
The review engaged with the Archivists of both St Mary Redcliffe and Bristol City Council to:
1. Assess and catalogue the relevant physical objects and archives held in each collection
2. Establish their capacity to illustrate key themes, including the:
• Architectural development of the church
• Donors/benefactors who funded or commissioned works
• Artists and craftspeople involved in their creation
• Items originally created for other locations, such as the font from St John’s Bedminster
• Notable people associated with St Mary Redcliffe, including Canynges, Cabot, Chatterton, etc
• Function of the church as a place of worship
• Role of the church in the parish: its charitable activities, the provision of schooling, etc
• Church as a landowner
Additionally, in recognition of the piece’s potential signifi cance to Project 450, and further to
Section 6.0, the Heritage Asset Review also provides a specifi c assessment of William Hogarth’s
Triptych, including:
• The artistic and ecclesiastical signifi cance of the Triptych
• Narratives surrounding the painting’s mid-C18 commission by the vestry of St Mary Redcliffe
• The relationship between the work and Bristol’s wealth, status, and ambition at this time
• Hogarth, as an artist, and the potential reasons for this atypical commission
• Hogarth, as social commentator, and his association with charitable works
• The religious symbolism depicted in the work
• The painting’s removal from St Mary Redcliffe, and subsequent ‘wanderings around the city’
• The painting’s potential return to St Mary Redcliffe
• The potential heritage engagement associated with its conservation and reinstatement