The Archbishop of Wales chooses Peace:
‘“Too idealistic” and “naïve”: two reactions to Strutt’s painting. It’s a “favourite” in a very particular sense: the Christian faith is, for some, too idealistic or naïve, but for those who understand Strutt’s inspiration, the painting is a metaphor for the Kingdom of God, in which innocence, gentleness and generosity of spirit triumph over division, conflict and self.
‘The little child prefigures Christ, who embodies that Kingdom and, in his teaching, turns on its head what some see as the natural order in which might is right and self is king. Even if turning that world view on its head is idealistic or naïve, count me in! ’
The Most Revd John D. E. Davies is Archbishop of Wales and the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon.
John McEwen on Peace:
Christ the Messiah is the fulfilment of God’s grand design, as prophesied in the Old Testament and testified in the New.
This picture says it all. It illustrates Isaiah, Chapter 11: v1,5,6: ‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.’
As a best-selling print, this picture, often titled And a little child shall lead them, struck a universal chord. There are other examples of William Strutt’s oil painting to be found, but the one that is housed in Brecon Cathedral is the original.
The Strutts made their name first as Essex mill owners and then as artists for four generations. William’s grand-father, Joseph Strutt, remains ‘an influential but totally neglected figure’ in British art history (Sir Roy Strong). William’s father was a successful miniaturist painter and his uncle wrote widely read religious commentaries.
William was an art student in France and England before visiting Australia for his health. He married there and established himself as an artist, doing portraits and scenes of contemporary events; he also visited New Zealand. In 2015, a painting of a Maori insurrection he had witnessed was bought by the Museum of New Zealand for NZ$1.5 million (about £781,000).
A devout Christian, he returned to England in middle age, preferring not to raise his children in what he had come to consider a godless society.
Stephen Fry’s favourite painting
Stephen Fry shares why he loves this famous Velázquez painting of Pope Innocent X
Credit: Bridgeman Images
My favourite painting: Mark Price
'The picture reminds me of her: I swear she is an angel.'
My favourite painting: David Starkey
David Starkey shares the one painting he would own, if he could
My favourite painting: Nicholas Coleridge
Nicholas Coleridge chooses Maharana Jagat Singh attending an elephant fight by Syaji and Sukha as his favourite painting
My favourite painting: Robert Macfarlane
Robert Macfarlane chooses his favourite painting for Country Life.
-
Dawn Chorus: A Blue Plaque for Marc Bolan, holidaying in the Caribbean with Francis Ford Coppola and a history of the National Gallery in 25 picturesPlus the best of the property pages, and how the railways will save the countryside.
-
Game, set, match: 12 of the world’s most beautiful tennis courtsFrom Italy to Indonesia, when it comes to hotel amenities, a picturesque tennis court will always trump a 24-hour gym. So, before you book your next holiday, take a look at our pick of the 12 best.
-
'As a child I wanted to snuggle up with the dogs and be part of it': Alexia Robinson chooses her favourite paintingAlexia Robinson, founder of Love British Food, chooses an Edwin Landseer classic.
-
The Pre-Raphaelite painter who swapped 'willowy, nubile women' for stained glass — and created some of the best examples in BritainThe painter Edward Burne-Jones turned from paint to glass for much of his career. James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, chooses a glass masterpiece by Burne-Jones as his favourite 'painting'.
-
'I can’t look away. I’m captivated': The painter who takes years over each portrait, with the only guarantee being that it won't look like the subjectFor Country Life's My Favourite Painting slot, the writer Emily Howes chooses a work by a daring and challenging artist: Frank Auerbach.
-
My Favourite Painting: Rob HouchenThe actor Rob Houchen chooses a bold and challenging Egon Schiele work.
-
My Favourite Painting: Jeremy Clarkson'That's why this is my favourite painting. Because it invites you to imagine'
-
The chair of the National Gallery names his favourite from among the 2,300 masterpieces — and it will come as a bit of a shockAs the National Gallery turns 200, the chair of its board of trustees, John Booth, chooses his favourite painting.
-
'A wonderful reminder of what the countryside could and should be': The 200-year-old watercolour of a world fast disappearingChristopher Price of the Rare Breed Survival Trust on the bucolic beauty of The Magic Apple Tree by Samuel Palmer, which he nominates as his favourite painting.
-
My favourite painting: Andrew Graham-Dixon'Lesson Number One: it’s the pictures that baffle and tantalise you that stay in the mind forever .'
