Royal Gallery: Restoration

Lord West of Spithead Excerpts

Thursday 24th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[The Chairman of Committees]

My Lords, I certainly hope it will not be a matter of the noble Baroness looking down kindly on us when the time comes for them to be revealed in their original true glory, or as close to their original true glory as we can get it. Considering the national and international importance of these murals it is important to get it right rather than to get it soon. It is a very challenging task to restore the paintings to as near their original condition as possible. One of the very heartening results of the research is that the original pigment beneath the various layers has survived much more successfully in the Royal Gallery than was the case in the Robing Room. We have the opportunity of achieving a very high level of restoration and we should make sure that we get it right.

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

My Lords, I share some of the noble Baroness’s concerns—with the bicentenary of Waterloo coming up next year it seems important to try to get them up to scratch by then. I have noticed around the Palace of Westminster that nearly all the paintings of battles seem to be us defeating the French, which seems a little mean because we have fought most nations in the world. In this centenary of the First World War could we maybe commission a mural representing something such as Jutland or the famous Battle of Amiens in 1918 in time for that commemoration?

[The Chairman of Committees]

I am certainly going to duck that one. Commissioning works of art is purely a matter for the Works of Art Committee. Fortunately, that is one of the few domestic Select Committees in this House that I do not chair, and I am very grateful.