The Bardia Mural was created in a building on a clifftop overlooking the bay in

Bardia Bardia, also El Burdi or Bardiyah ( or ) is a Mediterranean seaport in the Butnan District of eastern Libya, located near the border with Egypt. It is also occasionally called ''Bórdi Slemán''. The name Bardia is deeply rooted in the ancient ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

John Frederick Brill John Frederick Brill (22 September 1919 – 1 July 1942) was an English soldier and painter who created the Bardia Mural. On 1 July 1942, the Axis powers of World War II, Axis launched an attack with the target being the capture of Alexandria, ...

just prior to his death at the age of 22. It depicts a collage of images that range from the horrors of war shown by skulls to the memories of home, shown by wine, women and song. The mural still exists to be visited. It has been defaced and its state has declined with a large crack in the wall on which it was created. Much of its lower part is lost. As of April 2009, Italian artists have filled the cracks, replaced broken plaster, removed graffiti and restored some of the paint's blackness.

Description

As can be seen from the photograph taken in the sixties, while the mural was still largely intact, it originally depicted Brill's memories of home, as well as the horrors of war. From left to right images of a boxer overlay a newspaper, beneath which money and piles of skulls, are followed by grasping hands reaching up to repeated and overlaid images of apparently naked women, whose facial features change subtely. Above these women can be seen the artists signature reference to the R.A.S.C. and the date of ''21 4 42'', with a further repetition of skulls above the signature. The image continues to unfold, on the other side of what appears to be a curtain separating the two sides of the mural, with pages of music, a grand piano and a table laid for a sumptuous meal (many knives and forks), under which are fitted a number of books, which according to Lydia Pappas represent the works of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

From left to right: ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

''; ''

Barnaby Rudge ''Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'' (commonly known as ''Barnaby Rudge'') is a historical novel by English novelist Charles Dickens. ''Barnaby Rudge'' was one of two novels (the other was ''The Old Curiosity Shop'') that Dickens pub ...

''; ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

''; ''

The Old Curiosity Shop ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is the fourth novel by English author Charles Dickens; being one of his two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 t ...

'' and ''The Pickwick Papers''. The image flows on to a conductor with more music, followed by a number of men's faces watching three ballet dancers, who are dancing on a floor of musical notes, the mural ends with the image of a face looking out of a window high up in a brick wall at the top right hand corner of the mural, which has variously been suggested to be the artist himself, or a relative back in "

blighty "Blighty" is a British English slang term for Great Britain, or often specifically England. Though it was used throughout the 1800s in the Indian subcontinent to mean an English or British visitor, it was first used during the Boer War in the sp ...

" awaiting his return.

History

According to his mother, Brill developed a passion for art at a young age. Having studied at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, he then went on to pass the entrance exam to study a 3-year diploma course at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

when the war broke out. His mother wrote, "His creed was that in order to become a great artist, he must suffer. Consequently he joined the Infantry, believing that to be the roughest and hardest of the services." He fought in Europe and survived Dunkirk, after which his regiment was posted to the Middle East. Brill was a Private in the 5th Battalion of the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

. He signed the mural on 21 April 1942, a matter of weeks before his death. He died on 1 July 1942, the first day of the

First Battle of El Alamein The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of World War II, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which included the under Field Marshal Erwin ...

, aged 22. He was buried at the El Alamein War Cemetery.

Images

Uncropped photographs taken by Donald Simmonds that show signs of wear and tear even then. More photographs that show graffiti. 2009 photographsDon-simmonds.co.uk
/ref> showing renovation in progress.

References

External links

reference to the Bardia Mural by a U.S. visitor
Yourmailinglistprovider.com
mention from another U.S. visitor
Don-simmonds.co.uk
updates from 2004 to 2019 including renovation
link to Google Map
Arts in Libya

Bardia Mural The Bardia Mural was created in a building on a clifftop overlooking the bay in Bardia, Libya, during World War II by John Frederick Brill just prior to his death at the age of 22. It depicts a collage of images that range from the horrors of ...