FA000170 – Man Thinking of Heaven, Glyn Philpot, 1937

Part of the One Minute Wonders trail, a story written by one of our volunteers, inspired by objects on display.

By Dona Perseu

A young man wearing a white tunic sits in a colourful but bare room, a loaf of bread, a knife and a bottle of wine are on the table behind him.

The pensive expression, the hands softly placed on his lap and the objects behind him makes me wonder about some deeper aspects behind this work.

Bread and wine are symbols of Christianity, associated with the figure of Jesus Christ. It is known that at some point the artist converted to Roman Catholicism.

Glyn Philpot started his career as a portraitist for the wealthy. Later, he became known for painting biblical scenes.

The unnamed man in this painting looks like Henry Thomas, known to be a long friend and model for the artist, would it be fair to assume that is this Henry in the painting?