A martyr in the toolshed

Joanna Bogle puzzles over a mysterious portrait of St John Fisher This portrait of St John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who was martyred in 1535, has a mysterious history. It has recently been restored and hung in the chapel of the John Fisher School in Purley, Surrey — and the school would love to know more about it.
The picture was discovered in a toolshed in the grounds of Laleham Lea preparatory school in the 1970s. Laleham Lea was originally the prep school for the John Fisher School, and is just across the road in Peaks Hill, Purley. The picture was in a dirty and dilapidated state, but the then headmaster, Alan Baseley, cleaned it and decided to hang it in the school. No one was quite sure how it had come to be found in a toolshed.
From there, the story goes to Neil Ockenden, an Old Boy of the John Fisher School. He recalled: "In 2006 the picture was handed over to me as I had expressed an interest in having it fully restored. We were fortunate that Mr Gerard Temple agreed to do this. He repaired the various tears, cleaned and re-lined the painting on to a new canvas and restored and damaged areas, re-touching and finally revarnishing the picture.
"We are grateful to Mr Tony Ridgers for restoring the frame. Mr Temple gave his opinion that the painting dates back to about 1850. The way it was fixed to the stretcher indicated to him that it originated in Italy."
But how did it end up in Britain? The Catholic Hierarchy here was restored in 1851 as part of the great revival of the Catholic Faith in England. Possibly the painting was commissioned to mark this event. St John Fisher was, of course, the last Catholic Bishop of Rochester before the establishment of the Church of England. In the 1850s Rochester and its surrounding areas became part of the new restored Diocese of Southwark. Perhaps the painting was specifically done in Rome at the request of an English Catholic, or group of Catholics, and presented to the Diocese of Southwark.
Former pupils of the John Fisher School remember the portrait hanging in the school's former chapel, which would mean that the school acquired it at some stage during that time, 193457. But its whereabouts before that time seem to be a blank. "Enquiries will continue to be made about this striking portrait of the school's patron," said Mr Ockenden: "We'd love to hear from anyone who knows any more."
Bishop Fisher contributed greatly to the development of Cambridge University, and was also a scholar in his own right in addition to being an exemplary bishop, who numbered visiting the sick and caring personally for the education of his clergy among his regular duties. Alone among the English bishops, he steadfastly refused to sign any agreement that King Henry VIII was head of the Church in England, or to acknowledge Henry's divorce from Queen Catherine. Imprisoned in the Tower of London — his cell was just below that of St Thomas More — he was eventually executed on Tower Hill. At the time of his death he was so weak that he had to be brought to the place of execution on a chair.
The John Fisher School, founded in 1929, is proud of the fact that its adop tion of John Fisher as a patron predates Fisher's canonisation, (which took place in the 1930s) and so has never added the "St" to the school's title. The school badge is a golden fish. A number of former pupils have gone on to become priests, and several have been ordained in the school's chapel.
A Latin inscription beneath the portrait has been translated and reads: "John Fisher, English bishop of Rochester was created cardinal by Paul III of the title of St Vitalis. He was however martyred before he could take the cardinal's purple. He was put to death in the year of Our Lord 1535 by Henry VIII for his defence of the Catholic faith and the primacy of the apostolic see. He was 76 years old. He was among the first to refute Luther and Lutheran doctrines with his own incisive writings."
You can read Joanna Bogie 's blog at http:Iljoannabogle.blogspot.com