Wow! 300 years of magnificence of the Painted Hall 

In 1726, three hundred years ago, when the custodians and Greenwich Pensioners of the newly completed Painted Hall, looked up at Sir James Thornhill’s freshly painted ceiling, what might have they said? What exclamations might they have made? What words would they have used to express astonishment and amazement? Perhaps, ‘Good heavens, how magnificent!’

How emotionally overwhelmed and immersed in the grand surroundings were the thousands of people in January 1806. The ordinary, lined up patiently to see and pay respect to Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson as his body lay-in-state in the Painted Hall. His coffin and body presented in the opulent Baroque interiors, an apt ceremonial setting fit for one of our most celebrated national heroes.

In 1826, when visitors on the brink of Victorian modernity dropped into the Painted Hall to see The National Gallery of Naval Art’s collection of 300 paintings by artists such as J.M.W. Turner and Sir Joshua Reynolds, what did they make of the 3,700 square metres of painted walls and ceilings beyond the gallery, depicting the painting of over 200 figures and scenes, both real and imagined. A hundred years on, what did they make of the stories of political change, the previous centuries scientific and cultural achievements, naval and commercial endeavours. Did the allegorical, mythological, historical and contemporary characters have meaning for them as exciting new discoveries, industrialisation and progress was shaping the very world around them.

Just over two hundred years later in 1939, as the Naval officers and trainees of the Royal Navy, successors of the retired Greenwich Pensioners, sat dining at long refectory tables, feasting or simply having their usual daily breakfast, were they suddenly reminded of the painted ceiling. What might the chatter have been about the extraordinary setting they found themselves in amongst the routine of their Royal Naval College life?

It is a question I often ask myself as I stand in the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College today. It is at once a feeling of my own unique discovery and one of the passages of time and the people that came before me and how they experienced the Painted Hall.

Today in 2026, ‘Wow!’ might be the word the Painted Hall hears the most. The sheer scale and artistic splendour are something that few people see every day and stops them dead in their tracks at the top of the stairs to the Hall. It astounds people when they see the Painted Hall for the first time or see in a new light. It is not a revelation to me and those who work here, that today’s visitors still find it so affecting and that it creates an emotional response of wonder and awe.

It was and is today an important public attraction for people to discover and share in its beauty and significance. A place for everyone, one of local and national pride, and international acclaim. For school children, for the curious, for art and history lovers, for artists, directors and creatives, for people looking to impress with weddings, ceremonies and grand important moments. All are welcome, all year around.

During the major conservation of the Painted Hall in 2017-2019 scaffold tours allowed visitors to climb up onto specially constructed platforms, bringing them within metres of Thornhill’s paintings while conservation work was actively underway. This eye‑level encounter proved extraordinary for the 86,000 people who experienced it. Confronted with the faded brushstrokes, the fragile plaster surface, its cracks, and the areas of lost paint and pigment, many felt a sense of humility. It offered a deeper understanding of the levels of conservation and daily care required to keep history, and the places that encapsulate, alive.

Since the landmark £8.5 million restoration project was completed in 2019, over one million people, have visited this special place. Whilst expert-led tours draw daily attendance, the major art installations draw people from everywhere to the Painted Hall.

Presenting the Hall in a new light for its visitors, for different purposes in multiple ways, has been true of the Painted Hall since the paintings were completed, its use has never been static, but one of change, interpretation and renewed meaning. Its importance to the nation and people, lies not only in its artistic and historical significance but in the fact that it belongs, in a meaningful sense, to everyone.

My role as Chief Executive and the role of staff and volunteers as the current and past custodians of this very special place is to get people to look and look again, to shift the perception of heritage, not as a static place, but a living, breathing, place to experience and participate in.

I am excited to see what and who the Painted Hall might inspire. How might we and the people we work with reimagine it for our time? Could augmented reality, for instance help us see it differently, uncovering hidden layers of art and architecture that both Sir Christopher Wren and Sir James Thornhill left behind? And could imaginative uses of AI give new resonance to its stories, characters, and allegories? Filmmakers, over the last century, have already reframed the backdrop in countless ways for us, movie scenes both realistic and otherworldly.

For now, in honour of the 300th year of the completion of the Painted Hall we want to create moments for people through our events; large-scale art installations by renowned and emerging artists; special talks and tours in addition to wellbeing and participatory events that will allow people to spend time in the Hall gazing upon one of Britain’s most extraordinary interiors.

A colossal canvas that encompasses who holds power; gods, goddesses and rulers, winners and losers; sailors, explorers, architects, and pioneers; virtues, vices, symbols and emblems; fame and fortune; all set against the greater cosmos and the forces of nature itself: The sun, the stars, the winds and the weather. Good heavens, how magnificent!

If it sounds vast, overwhelming, and awe-inspiring, that is because it is, and it truly deserves to be seen to be believed, with its unique place in history safeguarded for future generations.