Diary: England's best new work of sacred art for years

As someone who is wading very slowly towards a DPhil in the history of art and architecture, I get to spend rather a lot of time thinking about great art and beautiful things. Spending so much time with the art of the past leads inevitably to reflecting on the art of the present. Sometimes – yes, even today – we are lucky enough to encounter a new work of art which is truly exceptional: something skilful, beautiful, articulate and important. For those who value the spectacle of skill in art, who believe in the importance of beauty – indeed, in the theology of beauty – I implore you to visit the Jesuit Farm Street Church in Mayfair, London. Artist-in-residence Andrew White has installed his new oil painting, Mother Mary, in the church over the summer. Working from his Lincolnshire studio, White is perhaps our leading exponent of the historical tradition of sacred painting. In my opinion this is the best new work of sacred art produced by an English artist for some time. The painting depicts Mary a few months after the Annunciation. The Marian subject was chosen by the Jesuits as patrons, but the artist has chosen the timing. Mary sits alone and contemplates with awe God’s blessing upon her. This is a painting based on a specific scriptural reference, Luke 1:46-55. Mary’s soul magnifies the Lord and His mercy is on those who fear Him. White is a deeply committed and thoughtful Christian artist, and it shows. For White, the painting captures the raw simplicity of God’s spoken reality when he addresses His children. One of the most important aspects of this work is Mary’s age. She is young and innocent, depicted with the natural beauty of youth. How the young believe is refreshing and fragile, and a huge challenge to put down in paint. White’s own daughter is the same age as Mary would have been at the time of the Annunciation.

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Mary sits alone, her previous “low estate” indicated by her plain, rough linen dress. The realism and naturalistic symbolism of the dress is masterful. Individual pulled and caught threads and the texture of the linen weave are captured in striking detail. The primary narrative in the picture is communicated through Mary’s face. The purity and perfection of Mary’s features are lit from a light source entirely outside the picture frame; she is bathed in warm sunlight from above and the light which gently rests on her face and hands is reflected back out of the picture towards us. The painting thrillingly captures Mary’s trust and belief in a God we cannot see. Her eyes reflect brilliant flashes of the light source itself. They capture her wonder and draw our gaze. Her face shows the incredible thing Mary is able to do – she accepts God’s gift. A secondary narrative is communicated with her arms and hands. They are folded gently across her lap, intimating a loving mother cradling her baby – a prophetic gesture of anticipation. The light hits Mary’s face, hands and also the blue of her shawl. The blue recalls lapis lazuli, a pigment once more precious than gold and a colour that has been associated with Mary in the Western artistic tradition since at least the 14th century. Like the face and hands, the shawl both holds and reflects light within the composition. It is a time-worn lapis lazuli somewhere between the blues in Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tiepolo’s Immaculate Conception and Raphael’s Aldobrandini Madonna, not colour-fast or as painted, but as faded and experienced by us today.

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To describe the painting’s style as ‘realism’ is to apply a label that doesn’t quite fit: White uses objective reference as a starting point, and the surface detail is certainly amazingly real. But an almost Dutch still-life light moves the work away from absolute objectivity towards drama. The background of the composition has no form or light yet it is believable; the laws of physics have been suspended to place Mary in a light all of her own. Central to this effect is the layering of colour and light through glazing.

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This is a painting which is best experienced up close, and Farm Street allows you to do this. It is a precious and vulnerable painting in this sense: the detail and skill of the artist only emerges through very close physical proximity, and we are trusted to be close to it. That the Jesuits at Farm Street have commissioned such a painting – and have an artist-in-residence of the talent of Andrew White – is inspired patronage and we are all the richer for it. This painting is a triumph. You should go and see it. Stephen Withnell is Deputy Headmaster (External) at Stonyhurst College and a postgraduate student at Campion Hall, Oxford. Follow him on Twitter @WithnellStephen