Best in show

“Rowan Williams first sat for Lorna May Wadsworth when he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2003. They hit it off so well that, 16 years on, he recommended her to paint this new master’s portrait for Magdalene College – a post he took in 2013 – which is the centrepiece of the artist’s retrospective exhibition.

It’s clear from this image that Williams’ intellect and calling had a profound effect on Wadsworth, whose portraiture responds to the nuances of personality of the subject, as well as the physiognomy.

I think she wonderfully captures the oxymoron of the ‘holy human’ in this picture. A lot of religious portraiture over the past 500 years has failed to achieve that effectively, but there’s a real humbleness with conviction, the earthbound figure looking heavenwards.

Wadsworth utilises chiaroscuro lighting techniques which, ironically, are more associated with the full-blooded Spanish Catholic tradition; here, they rather cleverly amplify the religiosity without the artist having to go heavy with crosses and vestments.

The niche in the background is not just a representation of the architectural design of the room, a location deliberately chosen by the artist. It’s another subtle symbolic reference to the image of an ecclesiastical figure, as is the book he holds, with its distinctive calligraphy.

On one level, the whole effect is rather austere, but the restrained language she uses gives the image a great religious and psychological force.

Likeness is obviously important. There’s absolutely no point in producing a painting if it doesn’t look like the person, no matter how characterful it might be.

That does not, however, preclude a great range of artistic expressions. When you look at a Wadsworth portrait, you understand the sitter’s world. 

A great portrait is defined by the contract or bargain made between the artist and subject. There’s a tendency among lesser portrait painters to become a ‘one-face wonder’ but Wadsworth keeps the integrity of her own vision intact, whether she’s painting a toddler or an archbishop.

The overall effect of the exhibition is to present the emergence of an interesting voice, as a young artist develops over 20 years to produce a deep variety of characterisation.

It also brings her ‘home’. Wadsworth was hatched in Sheffield and retains her northern identity and palpable affection for the people. I believe her painting of David Blunkett – long-time Sheffield councillor, former home secretary and Labour peer – is one of the most successful political portraits ever.

I was an art adviser at the House of Commons before I started to represent Wadsworth, and I always thought that picture was a powerful modernist image that was provocative and monumental.”