This was the first of Rolfe's banners, painted in oil on primed canvas, which quickly proved to be unsuitable for an object in constant use. Afterwards, he painted in what he called "Stained arras" - i.e. painting straight onto unprimed canvas (a technique he claimed to have invented) allowing the paint to stain the fabric, thus providing a much stronger surface.
The Corvo Banners
The writer and painter Frederick Rolfe (1860-1913) came to Holywell in 1895. He was destitute and was employed to paint banners for the pilgrimage by the parish priest, The Jesuit Fr. Charles Beauclerk. Rolfe claimed to have an Italian title of nobility, Baron Corvo (raven or crow). He regularly 'signed' his paintings with the figure of a black bird