A MEDIEVAL altar has been reinstated in a latest chapel in St Mary’s, Ecclesfield, in Sheffield — with an altarpiece that could be a full-size print of a recent interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
The artist, Lorna May Wadsworth, who grew up within the parish, is thought for a series of life portraits, including Margaret Thatcher’s, in addition to this 2009 work. Twelve feet long, it was painted from life. The figure of Jesus relies on the black fashion model Tafari Hinds.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams admired the work on the time for its “tremendous vitality, but additionally really powerful tension between the agitation of some figures and the profound stillness and presence of others. All the faces would pay long looking. I really like the finished piece. It moves and pulsates, in color and texture and is an entirely remarkable work, I feel”.
The PCC also commissioned an icon of the Virgin Mary from the Revd Dr Richard Walton, a retired priest within the diocese, whose work has been widely displayed.
The Vicar, the Revd Dr Tim Gill, first saw the altar ten years ago and had wanted it to be reinstated ever since. “An archaeologist I spoke with recently said we have now some of the essential heritages in South Yorkshire,” he said.
“There’s a protracted history of the artefacts based here, but they’re used. This just isn’t a museum: it’s a living constructing. In reinstating the altar, we’re reinstating an ancient altar which has been out of use because the Reformation, so for roughly 500 years. We’re reinstating it in a latest way; so it’s going for use again for what it was originally created for: the celebration of communion, as a focus for prayer and worship.
“It’s a really perfect space, since it’s very much in public view, but can also be private enough in order that nobody can hear what’s being said in the event that they have asked for some private prayers for them.”
The chapel might be consecrated by the Bishop of Doncaster, the Rt Revd Leah Vasey-Saunders, at a patronal-festival service on 16 August.
