Ballot Archive

18 May 2023

Candidate Details

Candidate Name

Philip Modiano

Academic degrees, honours etc.

MA MSc MBA

Profession or occupation

Independent at historian

Grounds for election

Philip Modiano has single-handedly resurrected the achievements of a most distinguished Fellow of the 19th century, the Revd John Louis Petit MA FSA FRIBA (1801–1868), artist, architect and architectural writer. His works of art were lost after his death for some 120 years, but Philip Modiano has rediscovered an astonishing proportion of them, set about dating them and identifying their locations and relating them to Petit's numerous – often controversial – books. Petit, although acclaimed during his life, was an 'anti-Goth' and so did not fit into the accepted historical narrative: Pugin, Scott, Ruskin. Philip has successfully applied to have Petit's sole surviving executed building, St Philip's, Caerdeon, near Barmouth in Gwynedd, elevated to Grade 1 listing and it has been taken over by the Friends of Friendless Churches. Philip has published widely on Petit, including three books, and lectured at, for example, the Society and Courtauld Institute.

Signatories

The following Fellows have signed this Blue Paper