Peter Howson chosen for St John Ogilvie tribute

Oct 9 2008 By Frank Hurley

howson

SCOTS artist Peter Howson has been commissioned to create a giant artwork of the martyrdom of St John Ogilvie to hang inside St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow.

With 600 people in the painting it's being described as the artwork with the biggest ever crowd scene in Scotland and estimated to be worth at least £1million although it will never be sold.

Howson famously painted a nude Madonna and scenes from the war in Bosnia where he was a war artist.

Glasgow's Archbishop, Mario Conti, said the iconic painting on canvas will have an important religious role as well as being a major tourist attraction in its own right at the cathedral in Clyde Street.

The painting will be the focal point in the worship space, providing the backdrop to the new Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

Howson is widely acclaimed in the UK and abroad for his powerful religious imagery and has been fascinated by the figure of St John Ogilvie for some time.

St John Ogilvie, a Scottish Jesuit priest, was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1976.

Announcing the commission, Archbishop Conti said: "St John Ogilvie met his death within the territory of what is now the Cathedral parish, just a few hundred yards from where his image will now be housed.

"I have always felt that we should have some memorial to this saint whose canonisation so many of us remember with great pride within our Cathedral.

"Now the opportunity has arisen to have a truly world-class painting done by Peter Howson, a painter I have long admired both for his artistic talent and his spirituality.

"Although a political gloss was put on his trial, his 'crime' was to continue to bring the solace of the Eucharist to the persecuted Catholics of his time in 1615."

A delighted Howson said: "As an artist it is a huge honour to be asked to create a work of art for a Cathedral.

"I am very enthusiastic about the subject matter. I have read everything I can get my hands on about St John Ogilvie, and have completed a few initial portraits."