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Lot Essay
The work is accompanied by a hand-written letter from Sir Stanley Spencer to the previous owner, Miss R.M. Parry, signed by the artist, and dated 14 November 1958; and two letters from the Rev. Michael Westropp regarding the present work.
St Peter Escaping from Prison draws on the story from the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament in which Peter, having been imprisoned by King Herod for his faith, is liberated by an angel of the Lord. The night before Peter's trial, an angel appeared to him, and told him to leave. Peter's chains fell off, and he followed the angel out of prison, assuming it was a vision. The prison doors opened of their own accord, and the angel led Peter into the city. Although described in a short textual passage, the tale has given rise to theological discussions and has been depicted by many artists. Spencer thus situates himself in a great tradition: perhaps the most celebrated portrayal of the story is the 1514 fresco by Raphael in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Theologians are divided on the significance of the passage: some argue that direct divine intervention is strongly indicated in the narrative, seeing Peter's story as a contrast to that of James, who was reported as having been executed by Herod. Peter's escape is thus a mystery of divine providence. On the other hand, this incident is portrayed as being a type of resurrection for Peter: one of the predominating themes of the Book of Acts is that Christ's servants follow in His footsteps, and the events reiterate the resurrection of Jesus. In Spencer's interpretation, 'Peter steps gingerly over his slumbering, scarlet-shirted guards as he is led by the angel up some garden steps to freedom, leaving his shackles - the shackles of religious persecution - behind' (C. Gleadell, loc. cit).
The church was a constant presence in Spencer's formative years: his father, a church organist, had close connections with the Church of England, and his mother attended the Wesleyan chapel in the village (which now houses the Stanley Spencer Gallery). As Fiona MacCarthy explains, 'it was to this more literal and emotional form of worship that Spencer, as a boy, felt most attuned. Central to the service was the public experience of religious transportations. [ ... ] The 'Bible life', in the sense of daily habit rather than externally imposed discipline, permeated the house and Spencer as a boy accepted it unquestioningly: 'Somehow religion was something to do with me, and I was to do with religion. It came into my vision quite naturally, like the sky and rain.' He absorbed this religiousness into the bloodstream.' In his work, Spencer sought the means of fusing the religious and erotic and found it in the intimacies of village life. (see F. MacCarthy, exhibition catalogue, Stanley Spencer: An English Vision, Yale, 1997, p. 8).
The present work is one of only a handful of figure paintings Spencer painted in the years1958-59. St Peter Escaping from Prison is a continuation of the small-scale religious series last worked on in 1955. The series, which includes Christ rising from the Tomb (Bell 395, 1954, private collection) and The Deposition and the Rolling Away of the Stone (Bell 424, 1956, York City Art Gallery, York), may have been an attempt by Spencer to begin a new series of religious pictures similar to those he had painted in the twenties (see K. Bell, Stanley Spencer: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, London, 1992, p. 504). Thematically, the influence of the Renaissance painters on Spencer is clearly visible in the series (for all depict episodes from the Acts of the Apostles). Compositionally, however, the other two works draw much more so on the Renaissance tradition: the scenes are treated like a predella, being divided from the main picture on the canvas. Here, we observe a tight and schematic composition.
During the war years, while Spencer was in Glasgow, he had travelled back intermittently to Cookham, returning there permanently in September 1945. Spencer's paintings over the decade which followed his return to his old home, Fernlea, reflect the relief of the return to his roots. The present work was painted in the year before Spencer moved back to Fernlea, a move which marked Spencer's life coming full circle. We therefore observe in the present work, not just a return to themes which had preoccupied Spencer in the early part of his career (and, of course, his predecessors in the artistic canon) but moreover, a recollection and revisitation of his childhood. Art - for every year Spencer's father took him and his brother Gilbert to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - and the church, were both stalwarts in Spencer's formative years. In the present work, Spencer is situating himself in the artistic tradition by depicting this well-known Biblical story, and at the same revisiting themes which shaped his early life. Undoubtedly, there is an element of metanarrative here. Is Spencer reflecting on his life through the means of a story so closely linked with resurrection?
Furthermore, Spencer's use of the smaller, square format in these late paintings (St PeterEscaping from Prison and Christ rising from the Tomb) seem to hark back to the early square pen and ink drawings, for example Study for John Donne Arriving in Heaven (1911, private collection, London).
St Peter Escaping from Prison is one of the last paintings completed by Spencer before he died. It was sold by Spencer from his studio for £200 during an exhibition in Cookham in June 1958. Suffering from cancer, he wrote to the buyer, Miss Parry in November of that year: 'I found it as much as I can do to paint this. I am still stuck with the painting of Christ preaching from the barge. If I don't get on with it, the barge will get waterlogged.' Spencer died the following February with the work still unfinished.
Please see lot 5 for one of the seven paintings which form the Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta series, the largest of which, is the unfinished, final version to which Spencer is referring in this letter.
St Peter Escaping from Prison draws on the story from the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament in which Peter, having been imprisoned by King Herod for his faith, is liberated by an angel of the Lord. The night before Peter's trial, an angel appeared to him, and told him to leave. Peter's chains fell off, and he followed the angel out of prison, assuming it was a vision. The prison doors opened of their own accord, and the angel led Peter into the city. Although described in a short textual passage, the tale has given rise to theological discussions and has been depicted by many artists. Spencer thus situates himself in a great tradition: perhaps the most celebrated portrayal of the story is the 1514 fresco by Raphael in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Theologians are divided on the significance of the passage: some argue that direct divine intervention is strongly indicated in the narrative, seeing Peter's story as a contrast to that of James, who was reported as having been executed by Herod. Peter's escape is thus a mystery of divine providence. On the other hand, this incident is portrayed as being a type of resurrection for Peter: one of the predominating themes of the Book of Acts is that Christ's servants follow in His footsteps, and the events reiterate the resurrection of Jesus. In Spencer's interpretation, 'Peter steps gingerly over his slumbering, scarlet-shirted guards as he is led by the angel up some garden steps to freedom, leaving his shackles - the shackles of religious persecution - behind' (C. Gleadell, loc. cit).
The church was a constant presence in Spencer's formative years: his father, a church organist, had close connections with the Church of England, and his mother attended the Wesleyan chapel in the village (which now houses the Stanley Spencer Gallery). As Fiona MacCarthy explains, 'it was to this more literal and emotional form of worship that Spencer, as a boy, felt most attuned. Central to the service was the public experience of religious transportations. [ ... ] The 'Bible life', in the sense of daily habit rather than externally imposed discipline, permeated the house and Spencer as a boy accepted it unquestioningly: 'Somehow religion was something to do with me, and I was to do with religion. It came into my vision quite naturally, like the sky and rain.' He absorbed this religiousness into the bloodstream.' In his work, Spencer sought the means of fusing the religious and erotic and found it in the intimacies of village life. (see F. MacCarthy, exhibition catalogue, Stanley Spencer: An English Vision, Yale, 1997, p. 8).
The present work is one of only a handful of figure paintings Spencer painted in the years1958-59. St Peter Escaping from Prison is a continuation of the small-scale religious series last worked on in 1955. The series, which includes Christ rising from the Tomb (Bell 395, 1954, private collection) and The Deposition and the Rolling Away of the Stone (Bell 424, 1956, York City Art Gallery, York), may have been an attempt by Spencer to begin a new series of religious pictures similar to those he had painted in the twenties (see K. Bell, Stanley Spencer: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, London, 1992, p. 504). Thematically, the influence of the Renaissance painters on Spencer is clearly visible in the series (for all depict episodes from the Acts of the Apostles). Compositionally, however, the other two works draw much more so on the Renaissance tradition: the scenes are treated like a predella, being divided from the main picture on the canvas. Here, we observe a tight and schematic composition.
During the war years, while Spencer was in Glasgow, he had travelled back intermittently to Cookham, returning there permanently in September 1945. Spencer's paintings over the decade which followed his return to his old home, Fernlea, reflect the relief of the return to his roots. The present work was painted in the year before Spencer moved back to Fernlea, a move which marked Spencer's life coming full circle. We therefore observe in the present work, not just a return to themes which had preoccupied Spencer in the early part of his career (and, of course, his predecessors in the artistic canon) but moreover, a recollection and revisitation of his childhood. Art - for every year Spencer's father took him and his brother Gilbert to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - and the church, were both stalwarts in Spencer's formative years. In the present work, Spencer is situating himself in the artistic tradition by depicting this well-known Biblical story, and at the same revisiting themes which shaped his early life. Undoubtedly, there is an element of metanarrative here. Is Spencer reflecting on his life through the means of a story so closely linked with resurrection?
Furthermore, Spencer's use of the smaller, square format in these late paintings (St PeterEscaping from Prison and Christ rising from the Tomb) seem to hark back to the early square pen and ink drawings, for example Study for John Donne Arriving in Heaven (1911, private collection, London).
St Peter Escaping from Prison is one of the last paintings completed by Spencer before he died. It was sold by Spencer from his studio for £200 during an exhibition in Cookham in June 1958. Suffering from cancer, he wrote to the buyer, Miss Parry in November of that year: 'I found it as much as I can do to paint this. I am still stuck with the painting of Christ preaching from the barge. If I don't get on with it, the barge will get waterlogged.' Spencer died the following February with the work still unfinished.
Please see lot 5 for one of the seven paintings which form the Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta series, the largest of which, is the unfinished, final version to which Spencer is referring in this letter.