ST THOMAS’S Church has new artwork on its walls, painted by Jersey artist Mark Blanchard.

It shows St Thomas More in his cell at the Tower of London awaiting execution. In the background are Henry VIII and the executioner. All three figures are modelled from Islanders.

The Catholic Dean in Jersey, Monsignor Nicholas France, said that the picture of an English saint on the walls was slightly to redress the balance: there are chapels, spaces and devotional representations for French, Portuguese, and Polish worshippers, but so far nothing of a similarly distinctive English nature.

Mr Blanchard, who is the head of the art department at De La Salle College, worked with the sponsor who had commissioned the painting and with whom he had agreed a final design for it following a series of preliminary drawings.

He then contacted the former director of the Jersey Heritage Trust, Michael Day, who now is the chief executive of Historic Royal Palaces and includes among his responsibilities the post of Keeper of the Tower of London. Mr Day readily gave his consent for Mr Blanchard to inspect the cell where Sir Thomas More had been imprisoned – it is not normally accessible to the public.

Mr Blanchard made sketches in the cell and was also shown the Tower’s Tudor collection, and by viewing Henry VIII’s armour he gained an insight into the king’s bodily proportions.

Finally, he secured authentic costumes from the Royal Shakespeare Company to fit his three models: Adam Cook (Sir Thomas More), Jefferson Randalls, the head of art at Victoria College (Henry VIII), and Gary Dickinson (the executioner). The three donned the costumes in Mr Blanchard’s studio and he took photos of them which he later married up with the original sketches and his sketches of the Tower of London cell.

The finished picture has now been hung on the walls of the church in an oak frame designed by cabinetmaker R Whittingham, with lettering by Stansfield Signs.

St Thomas More (1478-1535)was a lawyer, author and statesman who gained a reputation as a leading scholar and occupied many public offices, including Lord Chancellor (1529-32). He coined the word ‘utopia’ – a name he gave to an ideal, imaginary island nation whose political system he described in the eponymous book published in 1516.
He was beheaded in 1535 when he refused to sign the Act of Succession which would make Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church in England.

The picture adds to the number of works by Mr Blanchard in the newly restored church. There is also a painting by him showing the meeting of the risen Christ with St Thomas and another painting showing the meal at Emmaus.
The four Archangels positioned high in the nave of the church are also by him, and all the characters in the paintings and figures are modelled on Islanders.