Bruce Kennett Studio

BOOK DESIGN  •  EXHIBIT DESIGN  •  PHOTOGRAPHY

Chapel Undercroft, Lincoln’s Inn

Boston College Law School Photo Mural

One of the English Inns of Court, Lincoln’s Inn dates back to the 14th Century. The Inn offered law students and young lawyers a large hall for eating and drinking, chambers for living and studying, a library, and a chapel. Students often met with their teachers in the undercroft.

The tolling of the bell in the chapel above would announce the death of a senior member of Lincoln’s Inn, a custom that survives to this day. The words of the chapel’s most famous preacher, John Donne, ring true: “. . . any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

The project: Boston College Law School wanted to show students how the actions of individuals and groups had influenced the growth of the American legal system, inspiring in them the desire to positively affect the world during their own careers.

The murals show places where significant events in legal history had occurred, in both the U.S. and in the U.K. (the American system being largely based on British law).

More than a dozen color murals, ranging in size from 4 x 6 feet to 6 x 16 feet, are mounted in permanent locations throughout the school. I worked with Dean Daniel Coquillette and law school faculty members to write detailed captions for display next to each mural.