Christ with the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist

This 1886 religious painting by Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen, depicting Christ with the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, was one of several devotional works she created for the private chapel at Baddesley Clinton. The subject — the three principal mourners at the Crucifixion — was a traditional devotional image in Catholic art, and this work served the spiritual life of the Catholic household that Orpen shared with Marmion Ferrers, his wife, and Edward Heneage Dering. The painting reflects the domestic Catholic religious practice that had been maintained, with some historical danger, at Baddesley Clinton since the Reformation.

Orpen renders the traditional subject with careful attention to the spiritual character of each figure — the Virgin's grief, Saint John's protective concern. The handling is more thoughtful and considered than her portrait copies, with color and light used to suggest an otherworldly register. The palette is relatively warm, with the figures occupying a generalized devotional setting.