A Church of England court has ruled that Benjamin West\u2019s altarpiece, Devout Men Taking Away the Body of St Stephen, 1776, which was made for one of the most important churches in the City of London can be sold for display in the US. The $2.85m painting is being bought by an anonymous foundation, which is due to lend it to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (The Art Newspaper, April 2013, pp6-7 and June 2013, p3). West was born in America, but worked in England.<\/p>\n
In his judgment, delivered on 10 July, Judge Nigel Seed, chancellor of the consistory court of the Diocese of London, ruled that St Stephen Walbrook should be allowed to sell the masterpiece. The painting had been removed from the church in around 1987, in what he described as \u201cperceived illegal actions\u201d\u009d, and has since been kept in storage.<\/p>\n
Judge Seed was critical of \u201cunlawful actions\u201d\u009d taken by two priests at St Stephen Walbrook: one who had originally hung the picture in 1776 without \u201cfaculty\u201d\u009d approval from the Church of England and the second who had removed it in around 1987, again without the necessary permission. He said: \u201cThis case, if nothing else, is an object lesson of the consequences of incumbents behaving as though the church building is a sort of personal doll\u2019s house for them to play with, without reference to the parishioners.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n