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The Women - Veronica wipes Jesus' face and Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.
Painted in acrylic, gouache and watercolour on a watercolour board. Used in a Holy Week service in St. Mary's Church, Barton-on-Humber, on Wednesday 4 April 2007. |
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| Comment. Again, this is meant to distort time. When I was preparing the service I downloaded some four Roman Catholic versions of the Stations of the Cross, and they were all lessons in pure sexism. The men did bad things and the women, all passive except for Veronica in her maternal instincts, wept at the side. So it was important to turn this cringe-making stuff on its head. These women are meant to be everything the usual liturgies deny, even if it tips over into contemporary sexisms. Plus now they are Europeans (like Mary Magdalene has been) and it looks like Jesus (fallen down again) with his Roman soldier have emerged in a park near some suburb. They are still upset, of course. A vision of Jesus's face is placed on Veronica's cloth, which is a symbol of love and compassion. | |
Adrian Worsfold