“The Resurrection of Soldiers” Sir Stanley Spencer, 1928-29, Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere, near Newberry.
This huge canvas covers the entire east wall of the chapel. At the bottom you can see the the altar and the sacristy doors. The chapel was built as a memorial to Lieutenant Henry Willoughby Sandham, who died of malaria at the end of World War I. It was commissioned by his sister Mary Behrend and her husband John. It also honours the “forgotten dead” whose names were not inscribed on any official memorial. Spencer served in Macedonia and much of the detail in this painting is from his memories of that time. Schooled as we are by so many scenes of the final judgement, you might wonder if the resurrection of the dead could be such mess! White crosses are scattered everywhere, like matchsticks. The artist said that they replaced the actual barbed wire of the battle field. In the foreground just above the altar there is a whole pile of them, as if unclaimed. A great many soldiers have arisen from their graves, but now in place of a rifle, they have a white cross. At end of the war the soldier had to hand back his rifle. Now at the final resurrection he hands back his cross. Some soldiers have carried their crosses and gathered around Jesus. He is the small triangular white figure in the distance. He stands at the apex of a larger triangle littered with white crosses, two pink mules and their collapsed cart. Most of the soldiers don’t seem to be aware of Jesus as yet. The young man lying at the centre on the white boards of the collapsed cart stares at his cross as if bewildered. Just in front of him the two white mules, now relieved of their burden, stare back at it. Spencer wanted the figures in the foreground to relate closely to the altar. They are disproportionately large. On the left the men shake hands like friends who haven’t seen each other in a long time. Just above them a young man embraces his cross. To the right right, there is a group who are still sleeping, their heads resting against their crosses which are still standing. Just in front of them a man stands winding the long piece of cloth soldiers wore as a leg support, wound from ankle to knee. Spencer intended the white crosses to dominate, each at once a symbol of sacrifice and resurrection. As with much of Spencer’s painting, this image becomes more real as you contemplate it. It might be messy, but in its earthiness and humanity it is more like the resurrection, for which I would dare to hope, than anything by the old masters – Michelangelo and fra Angelico included! Here heaven is seen through the lens of the life we now live. Have you ever been to a party where people are glad to be together, enjoying each other’s company, where there is food and wine, laughter and song? Could the final resurrection be like that? All we know for sure is that we will be with Him because he always was, and is and will be by our sides. He promised us and he always keeps his promise. There is a wee practice run this Tuesday night!
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