March, 2006

TOUCHSTONES

During World War II, approximately 1300 Italian prisoners of war helped construct the Churchill Barriers. These barriers secured Scapa Flow, Great Britain’s largest navel anchorage, and they connected the islands of Burray, Lamb Holm, and South Ronaldsay to Mainland Orkney.

The men were housed on Burray and Lamb Holm Islands. The 500 men on Lamb Holm Island lived at Camp 60, which consisted of approximately 13 Nissen huts. In their free time the men built flowerbeds, paths, a recreation hut and a theater. The only thing missing was a place of worship. In 1943 the camp gain a new commandant, Major Buckland. With his permission the prisoners joined two of the spare Nissen huts to form, what became, the Chapel.

One of the prisoners, Domenico Chiocchetti, wanted to create a chapel in the style of an Italian cathedral. Under his direction and supervision prisoners used extra concrete to make an altar, altar rail, and holy water stoop. Under the direction of another prisoner they gathered scrap metal to make candelabras, screen rood, and other decorative details. But it is the brilliance of Chiocchetti paining that makes the Chapel the wonder it remains today. At the east end of the chapel behind the altar is a fresco painting representing St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Siena. The rest of the interior was painted in a Trompe L’oeil style to resemble walls of bricks with a base of carved stone.

It was in this beautiful chapel I took refuge on a blustery day in May of 2003. The sun was streaming in the small windows on the west end illuminating the holy water font. I spent the next couple of hours working with this light and the way it played on this simple sculpture. As the day grew later the light grew softer and finally the gentle light of the setting sun illuminated the font the best. The directionality of the light gave a sense of texture but was not so harsh that the background was too deep in shadow.

That day the Italian Chapel was photographic refuge as well as shelter out of windy weather.

Each time I revisit the Chapel I see people reach out to touch the walls to see if they are really made of stone. Surprise registers on their faces when they realize that the wall is smooth. Each time I look at this image I see the lasting legacy of beauty created by these carvers of stone and molders of steel, who used the materials at hand to create a place of grace while war ravaged the land.

Perhaps beautiful art still holds purpose for in this crazy world today.