Christ in Cookham

Sir Stanley Spencer b.1891, d.1959
Christ in Cookham from the series Pentecost, Last Judgement
1951-1952
Painting
oil on canvas
127.0 x 205.7cm stretcher; 141.0 x 220.0 x 7.5cm frame
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia

Stanley Spencer's religiosity was marked by an almost mystical fervour

A Christ of Romanesque solidity presides over workers, village worthies, children and most of the local football team.

The setting is a cottage garden in Cookham, Spencer's rural birthplace which he habitually portrayed as an earthly paradise.