'Bolingbroke at Lydiard Tregoze' by John Piper, 1940

The painting depicts the seventeenth-century Golden Cavalier monument of Captain Edward St.John in St. Mary's, Lydiard Tregoze. Piper perfectly captures that startling contrast between the gilded captain and the shadowy chancel which he inhabits.

The picture was purchased for Lydiard House by Swindon Borough Council in 2002 with grant assistance from The Art Fund.

Piper incorrectly entitles his picture 'Bolingbroke at Lydiard Tregoze', probably on account of his acquaintance with Vernon, 6th Visct Bolingbroke at Lydiard Park.

In the introduction to his book on the St.John polyptych 'Curiously Painted', Brian Carne writes, 'John Piper told me, in conversation one day outside the church, that, settling himself for sleep each night, he summoned up one of a few striking visual memories, one of which was the early morning sun coming through St.Mary's East window ...'