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66 Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE (1903-1975) Dame Barbara Hepworth was born In Wakefield, West Yorkshire and went on to study art at Leeds School of Art and The Royal College in London, becoming one of Britain's most celebrated twentieth century sculptors and one of few women to gain international acclaim. She was also a skilled draughtswoman and after an invitation to view surgical procedures she produced nearly eighty drawings of operation rooms in chalk, ink and pencil. She was fascinated by the similarity between surgeons and artists. Construction (Crucifixion) was acquired by the Cathedral as a result of the friendship between Hepworth and the then Canon Chancellor Moelwyn Marchant, an academic, novelist, poet and sculptor in his own right. A grid of three bronze crosses affxed with brightly painted panels and an industrial metal loop encircling the crux, it seemed a complete departure from the subtle organic forms in hollowed out wood and stone for which she had become known. As a schoolgirl Hepworth developed a profound connection with the Anglican Church and its solemn, beautiful rituals but by the early 1930s she was a committed believer in the doctrine of Christian Science, which was enormously popular in the early twentieth century. It is thought that the information for the piece came in part from the founder of the Christian Science movement Mary Baker Eddy. Mary Baker Eddy commented, "The real life, or mind, and it's opposite the material life and mind are figured by two geometrical symbols, a circle or sphere representing the infinite beginning without end and the straight line representing the finite which has beginning and end". The lines of the sculpture soar upwards alluding to spiritual transcendence. The far side of the cross remains empty to reflect the post- resurrection absence of the material body except for the blue circle of the enduring moon and a channel of blood at the base to represent human suffering. On the other side of the cross, Christ the son of God lives on, the red base leading upwards through grey to a simple metal ring, the eternal Christ. The yellow disc of the sun is a halo illustrating the illumination of God's wisdom and righteousness. Construction (Crucifixion) Bronze with coloured panels 390 x 470 x 29 cm Bequeathed to the Cathedral in 1976 Loaned to Portsmouth Cathedral 1988-1977 Loaned to Winchester Cathedral 1997-2017 www.barbarahepworth.org.uk Why might the artist have chosen to represent a symbol of human suffering in this way?