A Village in Heaven

Sir Stanley Spencer 30/6/1891 - 14/12/1959

Summary

A frieze shaped painting depicting an imaginary scene of a heavenly village based on Cookham in Berkshire. Groups of adults and children are dancing and playing in the village square around a central stone obelisk, at the foot of which sits a vase of flowers. The figure of Jesus stands to the left of the obelisk, watching figures dancing and playing, a group to the far left can be seen playing amongst the trunks and roots of three trees. There are more dancing and playing figures to the right, with the village green in the background. For Spencer, his home village of Cookham was an earthly paradise, where the miraculous could be found in the everyday. His original title for this work was 'The Celebration of Love in Heaven' with the scene set at the War Memorial where the villagers traditionally met their lovers.