Bishop Robert Sherborne, one of the most powerful churchmen of Tudor England, lies at the heart of Chichester Cathedral’s connection to the court of Henry VIII and to one of its greatest artistic treasures: the Lambert Barnard Panels.
Sherborne served as Bishop of Chichester from 1508 until his death in 1536, overlapping with the formative years of Henry VIII’s reign. A royal chaplain and diplomat, he enjoyed the King’s favour and moved confidently within Tudor court circles. Under Sherborne’s leadership, Chichester Cathedral became a place where faith, politics and royal authority were made visibly present.
Between around 1516 and 1520, Sherborne commissioned the artist Lambert Barnard to paint a remarkable series of panels in Chichester’s Cathedral. Barnard is the earliest known English painter to have worked extensively in oil, and the Chichester panels are among the most important survivals of early English Renaissance art. Sherborne’s commission was wide‑ranging: it included a striking image of Henry VIII himself, reinforcing loyalty to the Crown, alongside panels depicting the Bishops of Chichester and asserting continuity of episcopal authority.
Another significant group of paintings from Sherborne’s time is now known as the Worthy Women (formally, the Amberley Panels). Depicting powerful female figures drawn from biblical and legendary history, they originally formed part of the elaborate panelling which decorated the ‘Queen’s Room’ at Amberley Castle, the Bishop’s residence during Sherborne’s episcopate.
Despite the religious upheavals that followed Sherborne’s death and the turmoil of the Reformation, these paintings survived. The panels located in Chichester Cathedral were painstakingly conserved in 2011 by the Hamilton Kerr Institute, following fundraising by the Chichester Cathedral Restoration and Development Trust. The Worthy Women panels were purchased by Chichester District Council in 1983 for £6,500, supported by a generous £4,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. More recently, Chichester District Council’s Cabinet has agreed to spend just over £248,000 on the full restoration of the Worthy Women panels and their display to the public. This separate conservation project highlights continuing efforts to protect, research and share Bishop Sherborne’s artistic legacy.
Together, the panels offer a vivid insight into Tudor Chichester, the ambitions of a bishop close to Henry VIII, and a moment when the city’s Cathedral stood firmly connected to the power, politics and culture of the Tudor world.
Delving deeper
The life of Robert Sherborne will be the focus on an upcoming lecture at Chichester Cathedral this May, led by Dr Andrew Foster, Cathedral Sub-Librarian, President of the Chichester branch of the Historical Association, and Honorary Vice-President of the Sussex Record Society. Tickets cost £10.00 per person (Thursday 7 May, 6.30pm, Vicars’ Hall, Cathedral Green).