This book presents the wall paintings from the refectory of the Community of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, in the UK. They were painted in 1997-1998 by members of the community with the expert help of lime plasterer, Ron King, using the fresco technique and finishing touches with egg tempera.
Inspiration for the layout and design came from the refectories of the monasteries on Mt. Athos where paintings of ascetic saints, including bishops, depicted in monastic garb, flank the walls. For this refectory, saints were selected based on their ascetic writings, and each carries a scroll presenting their words on the general theme of "brotherly love." In the case of women monastics whose writings have not come down to us, their scrolls contain some representative aspect of their lives.
In this book, the wall paintings are shown in the order in which they are situated, from left to right, starting on the east wall of the refectory.
On the 27th of November 2019, Archimandrite Sophrony, founder of the Community of St. John the Baptist, was added to the catalogue of saints. It so happened that the saint standing next to St. Silouan, St. Theophan the Recluse, had similar features to St. Sophrony, and so was overpainted with egg tempera and transformed into St. Sophrony.
