Petworth House
The Chapel
The Chapel is the most complete interior (apart from the cellars) to survive
from the medieval fortified manor house of the Percys and is still in use.
It was probably constructed around the beginning of the 14th century.
Henry, Lord Percy was given licence to crenellate in 1309, and the form of
the Gothic windows and the marble colonnettes is most obviously in the Early
English style. The wooden roof structure, consisting of 20 arch-braced
trusses, originally visible but obscured by the late 17th century ceiling,
also survives in part.
The original entrance was through a doorway with a four-centered arch at
the west end of the south wall. The four window openings in this wall
are original, as are the blocked window embrasures on the opposite side.
Transformed by the 6th Duke, who installed the plaster ceiling, the marble
floor (probably) and the magnificent woodwork incorporating the family pew
at the west end, and the stall and communion rail beneath.
The interior of the Chapel is one of the most complete Baroque conceptions
in England. Apart from the filling-in of the area beneath the balcony and
the insertion of entrance steps from the raised corridor (alterations carried
out by the 3rd Earl in 1793-4), the ducal fittings remain intact.
The most magnificent element is the wooden painted festoon curtain above
the family pew with angels supporting the ducal arms and coronet in the centre.
The armorial stained glass
Made around 1600, probably in London or Oxford, and records the various alliances of the Percy family.
The Chapel passage contains on piece of sculpture;
After Michaelangelo (1475-1564), Pietà
This copy of Michaelangelo's famous Pietà (1497-c.1500; St Peter's, Rome)
was bought by the Proud Duke on 1691 for £108 as 'a marble statue of the old
Ld. Arundell's being a Madonna with a dead Christ in her lap by Mich: Angelo'.
It was probably carved by one of the sculptors employed by the first Earl
of Arundel (1586-1646), such as François Dieussart (active 1622-61), but it
may also be an Italian copy.
The 1749/50 inventory indicates that the ducal furnishings were crimson: ''10
chairs' and various stools in the 'Gallery '(the family pew) were upholstered
in velvet. Beneath, in the 'body of ye Chapel', there were '2 stools
cover'd with Crimson velvet', while baize was considered adequate for for
'5 long Stools'.
The 17th century plaster ceiling in the Chapel
The gallery was also provided with a Persian carpet. The altar was covered
with a 'Crimson velvet cloth', and there were '3 damask cloaths for the Minister['s]
seats' (in c.1685). In 1817 a pedestal was made 'for the marble Madonna in
the Chapel', presumably the copy of Michaelangelo's 'Pietà' subsequently moved
to the North Gallery and now in the Chapel Passage.
The cast-iron stove, to the left of the altar, is presumably the 'Arnott
stove' installed in 1847-8. The bronze eagle lectern is c.1500
Painted high-back chairs
From a larger set, these are probably Iberian, 19th century, and may be identifiable
with the '9 High back chairs' ('and 2 stools') listed here in 1869.
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