Crucifixion, 1987, by Craigie Aitchison (1926–2009), 6ft by 7ft, Tate Collection
The Bishop of Gloucester says: The simplicity and mystery resonates with my faith. The intense colour conveys deep sadness and the armless Christ speaks to me of powerlessness in an unjust world, yet, the lonely figure is not abandoned as a dog and two birds keep watch. Here, in frail humanity, hangs their God and creator. Death is near, but will not be the end. And the boldness of shape and colour reflects my confidence in God’s love, stronger than death. The dawn will break, the sun will rise and so, too, will the Son of God. Justice and life will have the final word. Gloriously simple and wonderfully mysterious.
The Right Revd Rachel Treweek is the Bishop of Gloucester
John McEwen comments on Crucifixion: All the best pictures are sad and all the best music is sad,’ said Craigie Aitchison and the saddest subject was Christ’s Crucifixion. ‘They were all ganging up against one person. As long as the world exists, one should attempt to record that. It was so unfair.’ Thus spoke a son of Scotland’s Lord Advocate, a criminal barrister famed as the nation’s foremost champion of the underdog, and of a mother who drove ambulances at the Front and, in the post-First World War depression, ran a playground for poor children near the Aitchison home in Edinburgh’s New Town. His father took the family to church on Sundays regardless of denomination. Aitchison found Catholicism the most pleasing to the eye, but his first-birthday present established his faith: ‘I’ve always believed ever since I was given a picture All Things Bright and Beautiful.’ The picture hung over his bed all his life.
The Tate’s Crucifixion, as usual with the artist, combines the sacred subject with a love of Bedlington terriers and the Arran landscape. For an Eastertide issue, one commends his paintings in the Anglican cathedrals of Liverpool and Truro, secured by Edwina Sassoon through the Jerusalem Trust. With additional help from the Lindbury Trust and the Mary Lewis and Family Trust, Miss Sassoon also ensured that his design for a stained-glass Crucifixion was posthumously realised by Neil Phillips for London’s St Mary The Boltons. It was dedicated as a memorial window in 2012. It includes a Bedlington dog ‘which they say has the appearance of a lamb and the heart of a lion’.
My favourite painting: The Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester chooses his favourite painting for our Easter Issue
My favourite painting: Julian Radcliffe
'It captures the essence of the simple beauty'
-
If the future of Ferrari is electric vehicles, then it is our future tooIt's widely believed that Ferrari will unveil its first electric car this year. It's the signal that the internal combustion era is coming to an end.
-
Gaze over Cap Ferrat in this four-bedroom French villaIgnore the wind and the rain. Imagine yourself in this hillside home with some of the best views the Mediterranean can offer.
-
'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 .'
