THE MADONNA OF THE MOORS BY GRAEME WILLSON

Graeme Willson is an independent artist based in the Yorkshire town of Ilkley. He has exhibited nationally, in London and abroad and he has also a considerable reputation as an artist working in public places: his work for York Minster and the Leeds Corn Exchange are well known to a wide public. Over the last 15 years he has developed a practice in stained glass, working in partnership with the Martin Johnson Workshop in York.

In 2002 the artist's own Parish Church of St. Margaret in Ilkley commissioned a painting for the Baptistry. The result is the "Madonna and Child with St. Margaret and St. John" - otherwise known as the Madonna of the Moors, in reference to the landscape backdrop. The work was completed in May 2004 and unveiled by the then Archbishop of York, Dr. David Hope, who has since become the Vicar of St. Margaret's.

You may find Graeme's own website of interest; find it at:

http://www.graemewillson.co.uk/

A DETAIL FROM THE PAINTING

OUR PATRON SAINT MARGARET OF ANTIOCH

The Virgin Mary presents the Holy Child to us, the onlookers, while St. Margaret offers her pearls (the meaning of her name). The adult John the Baptist holds the Lamb of God and carries a rough wooden cross: a reference to his words about Jesus, �Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world� (John 1:29).

There are many local references in the depiction of the figures and their setting.

Ilkley Moor, with White Wells, forms the background, and the ancient carvings of the �cup and ring� and �swastika� stones are represented.

In the Book of Revelations, Satan appears before the Woman in the form of a dragon and seeks to devour the Child. (Revelations 12:1-6), while St. Margaret is also reputed to have resisted Satan when he attacked her in this guise. The dragon is carved on the face of the rock on which the Virgin is standing.

St. Margaret�s cloak is based on a vestment worn in this church.

The text above the picture �Born of the Water and the Spirit�, is expressed in moorland streams and billows of mist or smoke. The painting of these swirls and of light and shadow has been inspired by the shafts of sunlight illuminating the smoke of incense as it rises during the Holy Eucharist in this church on a bright day.

The wooden tracery of the Baptistery also appears in the picture, merging the painting with its surroundings, so that at a distance it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Looking at the west end from further up the church reveals how the colours used in the painting echo those from the windows above it.

ANOTHER DETAIL FROM THE PAINTING

WHITE WELLS
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