The Gillick portrait of
His Holiness Pope John Paul II
2005
Answers to some commonly asked questions:
QUESTION 1: TELL ME ABOUT THE COMMISSION TO PAINT HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II.
The Commission to paint the Holy Father has come about slowly and evolved, really, from 2001 until 2005. The Commissioner is The Bishop of Nottingham, England, Malcolm McMahon (O.P.). From the point of our first discussion about the project to the time of my visit to the Vatican there were umpteen letters written by me and the Bishop to various people at the Vatican (in three languages) which finally culminated in permission being granted for access to the complete photographic archives of his Pontificate under the guidance of Dom Giorgio Bruni - a rare privilege.
It will come as a surprise, perhaps, that neither Pope John Paul nor three or four of his predecessors have ever sat for portrait sittings, even though some atrists have naughtily claimed that their work is 'from life'. I have been told in letters from the late Pope's personal secretary, Archbishop Dzwisz (pronounced 'Geevish') on two occasions that; "The Holy Father never gets involved in the portraits which are made of him. They are carried out independently of him." To my knowledge photographs have been the usual means of completing paintings of the last three or four Popes, which I, for one, found rather extraordinary. I think that the last Pope to have sat for a portrait was Pius XII. As far as I can gather, two, perhaps three painters have been allowed to 'trail' the Holy Father, making sketches or photographs, but this is no longer possible due to his poor physical health and no one has done this in the last decade. Mine is the first 'official' type portrait to have been commissioned for a few years.
2: CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PAINTING?
When in Rome I was guided by two of the Vatican's three photographers: the wonderfully skilful Arturo Mari, and his right hand man Francesco Sforza (who was in the car with the Pope when he was shot in 1982), to a range of images revolving on a certain look I was going for in the final picture. My particular task was to produce a devotional picture, not an official type of portrait, of a great philosopher Pope, a very holy man and a peerless example of what a leader should be.
In the painting Pope John Paul II is depicted in near profile, facing our left. His head and hands are inside the frame of the picture. In his right hand he holds The Blessed Sacrament, sometimes known as the 'Wafer' or 'Host' - that sacramental sign at the centre of Catholic Mass. His other hand rests on top of his walking aid. Bishop McMahon told me that it is how he saw the Pope saying Mass in the last months of his life due to the effects of Parkinson's Disease and the wounds he received when he was shot, and that it was a wonderful testament to the loyalty he showed to his priestly vocation. It is an image of a suffering man; the suffering Pope. Heaven knows that, for all his smiles, waves of opposition to his straightforward holding up of Catholic Truth crashed upon his shoulders all his life. In 1999 the Pope himself described his personal mission in entering the Third Millenium as "leading the Church by my suffering". This is what he did, and that is how I have depicted him. It is in this context that the relationship between the Eucharist and the man opens up in the painting.
Around his shoulders is a hoop of pure woven lambswool called the 'Pallium'. It is an ancient type of garment given to Popes as a symbol of their authority (it looks like a yoke) and to all Archbishops to be worn on certain days in their diocese as a sign of their alliegance to him. It derives from a small cape worn in Classical Times that signified that the wearer was a philosopher. It is pinned to his undergarment - his Roman Purple Chasuble in this painting - using four decorative pins, one of which pokes into his neck in this picture. The frame was made by my twin brother, Theodore Gillick (www.gillick-sculpture.com) and I.
The frame is in the Italian Cassetta Style, gessoed and gilded in 23 ¾ carat Italian gold leaf. In the course of making it we developed a special technique to emboss the corners with our designs, which you see. The lettering is in a stone called 'Marle Du Roi' (The King's Marble) - an old quarried marble which King Louis XIV had exclusive rights to in his day. The top inscription bears the Pope's title in Latin and the lower one his motto which means 'I am wholly thine' and is an excerpt from an ancient antiphon directed to Mary, Mother of Jesus.
I am flattered to have been backed by the Bishop for this job. I haven't received the commission because I am a good or a better man than anyone else, but I know my job well and I aim to produce the most lasting memorial of him in paint that I can. I am conscious that pictures of important people become more significant as they age and that mine, being hand made from start to finish will last for a lot longer than most other modern paintings of him, certainly longer than photographs or images on celluloid, even 'technological' types of images which are more fragile and intangible than any other, and that I have a duty to forget myself and my opinions, and to think of the Holy Father.
3. WHERE WAS THE PAINTING UNVEILED?
It was unveiled by His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor and his immediate superior, the Papal Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz-Munoz in the Throne Room of Archbishop's House, Westminster on the 18th May 2005; a fortnight after the Cardinal returned from the Conclave that elected Benedict XVI.
4. WHO WAS PRESENT AT THE UNVEILING?
Some 120 guests were catered for, many of them very prestigious. The names on this abbreviated version of the official list give an indication of just how influential John Paul II remains after his death:
Lord Alton
Chris Bain: Director of Cafod
Bishop Basil of Sergiveo
Lord Brennan
Mr and Mrs S. Brenninkmeijer
Canon M. Brockie; Provost of the Westminster Canons
Mr Stratford Caldecott
H.E. High Commissioner of Canada
Rev. W. Carr; Dean of Westminster Abbey
Mr R. Chapman; Representative of No 10 Downing St.
Mr and Mrs Count Henry DU Val de Beaulier
Fr. K Cunningham IC
Mr K. Day
Mr Colin Edwards; Chairman of the Friends of the Holy Father
Rt. Hon the Earl Ferrers
Mr A. Festing: President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
General the Lord and Lady Guthrie
The Very Rev. Bishop Alan Hopes
Baroness Hooper
Mrs. S Howard, Wife of the Rt Hon M. Howard
Mr John Kennedy
Mr Greg King
Mr. Dominic and Rosa Lawson; Editor, Telegraph
Mr P. Lloyd: the Hospitallier, the Knights of Malta
Councillor Catherine Longworth: Lord Mayor of Westminster
Mgr. Joseph Marino
Baroness Masham
Rt. Rev M. McMahon OP, Bishop of Nottingham
Miss Catherine Murphy O'Connor
Mr Neville Nagler: Chairman of the Sternberg Foundation
Mr. M. Newland: Editor, Daily Telegraph
Mr M. Noakes: Royal Society of Portrait Painters
E.W Fitzalan-Howard 18th Duke of Norfolk
Colonel Tom Ogilvy-Graham
H.E. High Commissioner of Antigua and Barbuda
Fr. Michael Seed
Sr. M.A. Shepherd: Council of Christians and Jews
Mr. Peter Shepperd
Sir Sigmund and Lady Hazel Sternberg
Mr. Robert Thompson: Editor, The Times
Baroness Scotland: Deputy Home Secretary
Mr. Santo Volpe
Mr C Weld: Chancellor, Knights of Malta
Mr and Mrs Guy Weston: Garfield Weston Foundation
Rt. Hon Anne Widdecombe
Rt. Rev Dr. G. Rowell: Bishop Of Gibralta, Representative of Archbishop of Canterbury
Mr J. Studzinski: Chief Exec. HSBC
5. WERE THE PRESS IN ATTENDANCE?
No. Besides the 'Catholic Herald' the Cardinals Office deemed this a private affair and the press were advised not to come even though most of the national papers expressed an interest.
6. CAN I GET REPRODUCTIONS OF THE PORTRAIT?
Yes. Reproductions are available from the CTS publishing company and from James Gillick in the form of prayercards.7500 have been sold in the last year. CTS may be contacted on:
Tel 020 7640 0042 (open 9-30am - 5-30pm UK time)
Fax 020 7640 0046
A3 and A4 sized unframed Giclée prints and prayercards are available from James Gillick (see contact page). All proceeds go to charity.
