From:Williamson Art Gallery and Museum

Name/TitleSt. Matthew

About this objectRaymond Hawthorn (1917-1997) was a British wood engraver and printmaker. Born in Dorset in 1917, he studied art at the Coventry School of Art from 1935-9 and Hornsey School of Art from 1939-40. He was local to the Wirral, being a member of the Wirral Society of Arts and a teacher at the Laird School of Art. Throughout his career, he created collections of engravings to be used as illustrations in books, for example, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, trans. Richard Aldington, 1962), The Life of Alexander the Great (trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt, 1970) and, The Rise and Fall of Athens (Ian Scott-Kilvert, 1967). His artistic process involved engraving woodblocks for prints as well as watercolour paintings. His work is complex, detailed and uses a monochrome palette. This design comes from a collection made for a Pelican Edition of Commentaries on the New Testament published in the late 20th century.

This watercolour depicts the events of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which presents Jesus as a Messiah who lived a righteous life and draws comparisons to the life of Moses. A woodblock and a print of this design are also in the gallery's collection.

MakerHawthorn, Raymond (1917-1997)

Maker Roleengraver

Period20th century

Medium and Materialswatercolour on paper

Style and Iconographyreligious

Inscription and Marks"Illustrates 2 (1923) and J.C. Fenton's comment on page 50 of the Pelican edition of "St. Matthew":
"...Notice the contrast between the Old Testament and the New: in Exodus, the King of Egypt is the enemy of Israel; here, a King of Jerusalem is the enemy. In Exodus, Moses flees for safety out of Egypt and then returns; here Jesus is taken into Egypt for safety and then returns. In the Old Testament, Egypt and Pharoh art the symbols for unbelief and the hardness of heart; in the New Testament, Jerusalem and Herod fulfil this role".

Techniquewatercolour

Measurementswatercolour height: 9cm
watercolour width: 11cm
mount height: 24cm
mount width 17cm.

Subject and Association KeywordsChristianity

Subject and Association Keywordsst Matthew

Subject and Association KeywordsAncient Egypt

Subject and Association Keywordspyramid

Subject and Association KeywordsCross

Subject and Association Keywordsangel

Credit LinePresented by Mark R. Hammer, 2026

Object Typewatercolour

Object numberBIKGM.9376

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved