St Ethelflaeda

Romsey Abbey, Hampshire Permanent installation Open Mon - Sat 07.30am - 6pm, Sun 11-6pm. Free entry.

ROMSEY ABBEY, Church Lane, ROMSEY, Hampshire. SO51 8EP 

As his national touring exhibition to cathedrals also travelled to Romsey Abbey in autumn 2016, Chris Gollon was taken both by the Abbey and the history of its famous abbess, St Ethelflaeda. He painted–as a site-specific work–for two stone recesses–this dramaticdiptych of St Ethelflaeda, Abbess of Romsey at the time of the first millennium. Gollon’s diptych looks at the legend recounted of St Ethelflaeda, the moment her candle blows out and she is able to continue reading the Bible only by the Divine light emanating from her hand. The diptych subtly gives the impression of St Ethelflaeda re-entering the Abbey, imbued with light. It  has now been purchased by Romsey Abbey, where it hangs permanently for the public and congregation to enjoy. Chris Gollon painted 5 studies for the final work, which are available from his gallery, IAP Fine Art, which holds the Chris Gollon Estate.

“I’ve really come to love Chris Gollon’s work and the expressive ways that he represents the human form with exaggeration creating a greater realism”, The Very Revd Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester. 

Full-colour catalogue giving details of the diptych, the 5 studies for the final work, as well as texts by novelist Sara Maitland and leading critics is available to purchase in the Abbey bookshop, or online here: St Ethelflaeda catalogue.