There is one historic painting that is synonymous with Wales and the Welsh culture and that is the Edwardian watercolour Salem painted, strange as it may seem, by an Englishman Sydney Curnow Vosper.
I first saw a copy of the painting when I was around 18 , where it was proudly displayed in the house of an old girlfriend of mine. Her father was a Welsh Minister and the subject matter, the arrival (late) of a welsh woman Siân Owen to chapel is iconic for it is a depiction of Welsh religious piety as well as a beautiful rendition of Welsh traditional dress.
It’s also more famous for it’s suggested depiction of the devil’s face, hidden in the folds of Siân’s rather luxurious shawl. This “ hidden” message was only one of three or so said to present in the painting .
The clock on the wall hints that Siân’s entry to her family pew is late and and it’s is said that her beautifully adorned entrance is a comment about pride and ostentatious dress.
If you look closely there is also a ghostly face at the chapel window too.
I have seen the painting at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight a few years ago so I understood the reference to the artist and to Siân Owen when villager elder Gwyneth Jones once stood in my front room waiting for me to wrap her some duck eggs into a brown paper bag and I remember well that she pointed to my grandfather clock and said in her thin welsh voice
“ It’s the clock in the painting “ she explained “ The sister painting to Salem”
The painting she was referring to is “ A Market Day in Old Wales” which shows Siân Owen unpacking eggs and provisions in her welsh country kitchen and in the corner is my Grandfather clock complete with scrolls and pillars
The Clock’s scrolls are hidden by the beams
:
My cottage ceiling is somewhat higher but still shows the beams
from Going Gently https://ift.tt/Efe053I
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