Religious and spiritual themes in British academic art during the Great War

Abstract

The fascination with spiritual matters among many in Britain during the Great War and the impact it had upon attitudes towards death, bereavement, faith, sacrifice, and the growth of spiritualism in the country has been examined before; but few have considered the visual response, or the effects of such images on the imagination. These themes were translated into representational paintings and prints representing Christ, death and sacrifice, life after death, and inspirational visions that attempted to centre the scene in realistic terms. Related to this were symbolic allegories such as St. George, reflective of nationalistic tendencies, faith, and spiritual vengeance. It will be argued that such fictions perpetuated and grounded these beliefs in reality. In the majority of cases, the artists moved the discourse from the pulpit to the battlefield, placing common soldiers at the forefront of the experience, guaranteeing approbation among a public eager for visual reassurance. Four pictures in particular, each employing a different theme, will be examined: The Great Sacrifice by James Clark (1914), and its sequel The Greater Reward (1917); The White Comrade by G. Hillyard Swinstead (1915); and Greater Love Hath No Man by Charles Sims (1917). Pictures employing universal symbols such as the cross and the crucifixion became metaphorical indices for literal (the numerous wayside crucifixes along the roads of France and Belgium) or perceived (the myths surrounding the crucifixion of Allied soldiers by the enemy), and by extension the idea that the collective dead were ‘crucified’ for the greater good of mankind. Others were not so obvious, such as the bandaged head. This religious imagery found renewed vigour in the numerous war memorials of the post-war era, and it will be argued that the pictures fulfilled the need of a Christian population to grasp for visible signs of hope, reassurance, and an understanding of the bloodbath. Such illusions propagated concepts of sacrifice, spiritual intervention and life after death. While they created a false and deceptive hope, they nonetheless functioned as a survival mechanism for the bereaved.