Dr Jane Spooner is a specialist in the art history and conservation of mural paintings, and is a former wall paintings conservation, art history MA and PhD student of The Courtauld. She has worked as a freelance wall paintings conservator in the UK and abroad, and in the technical analysis of a variety of artworks. Jane is a former specialist conservation advisor for works of art at the Church of England. From 2003 – 2017, she was employed by Historic Royal Palaces as a Historic Buildings Curator, researching and advising on building and art conservation projects, writing Statements of Significance and Conservation Management Plans, and curating exhibitions at the Tower of London and the Banqueting House, Whitehall. From 2017 – April 2022 Jane was Head of Historic Buildings at Historic Royal Palaces, managing a team of Historic Buildings Curators at Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, the Tower of London, Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland and the Banqueting House, Whitehall.
Research Interests
Jane’s research interests and publications are in the iconography and design of medieval English royal wall paintings, and in artists’ original paint materials, techniques, and workshop practice, reflecting the themes of her PhD Thesis. In addition, she is interested in architectural polychromy, through her work at Historic Royal Palaces; the role that antiquarians played in the preservation of ancient buildings and decorated interiors; and in the history of the conservation of wall paintings.
