Spencer’s only surviving full-scale mural scheme, commissioned by Balliol College, Oxford in 1932 for its new undergraduate accommodation at Holywell Manor. Spencer situated the story of the college’s medieval foundation against the agricultural scenes in which he excelled, with farm carts, chickens, dovecotes, and haystacks. Related preparatory works include a set of four oil modellos on panel (c. 1934, Balliol College, Oxford); an oil sketch of an abandoned composition, The Ambush of the Bishop of Durham (c. 1932-3, Balliol College, Oxford); and pencil drawings of two heads from the south wall (Head of Bishop/Head of Monk, 1934, Balliol College, Oxford).
Date: 1934-6
Inscriptions: North wall, lr: GILBERT SPENCER 1934-1936
Tags: Mural
Medium: Oil on plaster
Location: Holywell Manor, Balliol College, Oxford
Provenance: Commissioned by Kenneth Bell on behalf of Balliol College, 1932
Literature: The Times, 20 March 1936, illus.; Spencer 1974 pp. 104-115; Oswyn Murray (ed.), Holywell Manor: An Anecdotal History (Oxford, 2007), pp. 27-47; Gough 2024 pp. 206-217.
