ST JAMES THE LESS ANGLICAN CHURCH

Location

105 KOETONG PARADE MOUNT ELIZA, MORNINGTON PENINSULA SHIRE

File Number

606491

Level

Registered

Statement of Significance

What is Significant?
St James the Less Anglican Church is a small brick church built in 1865. The building combines Gothic massing with round headed windows in a Primitive Gothic style. The church was constructed using locally made bricks on a granite base and was designed by William Grover. The apse and vestry, added in 1913, are brick on brick foundations. St James the Less Anglican is a simple church and an intact representation of churches of this era. The brickwork of the church has been over painted.

The five-panel altarpiece 'Adoration of Angels, of Shepherds, of Kings' 1931 painted for St James the Less Anglican Church by the artist Violet Teague. The painting, in oils on canvas panels, was designed to fit into the apse of St James the Less.

How is it Significant?
The church of St James the Less with its altarpiece paintings is of aesthetic significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it Significant?
St James the Less Anglican church is a small brick church built in Gothic style in 1865, which has associations with many of the early and notable residents of the Mornington Peninsula.

The five panel altarpiece 'Adoration of Angels, of Shepherds, of Kings' 1931 by Violet Teague is aesthetically significant because it is a rare example of an altarpiece in situ in the State. It is one of only five altarpieces executed by Teague known to survive in Victoria and one of only two of her altarpiece paintings that remain in situ. The five-panel painting in oils on canvas panels was designed to fit into the apse of St James the Less church, with panels designed to accommodate openings for a door and a window. This painting is significant for its unusual representation of the subject matter, an allegorical painting of the Nativity and the scale of the work. The altarpiece 'Adoration of Angels, of Shepherds, of Kings' was Violet Teague's largest and most ambitious religious work. The altarpiece is a rare example of a religious painting purpose-designed for a church. Although the production of religious art is not unprecedented in Australia it is highly unusual for work to be specifically designed for a place of worship. Violet Teague, who was born in Melbourne in 1872 and died at Mt Eliza in 1951, is one of the many Australian women painters whose extensive body of work has been neglected by history until recently. Her oeuvre included detailed oil paintings and portraiture, Japanese influenced woodcuts and prints and landscape watercolour paintings.

Group

Religion

Category

Church