The Baptism of Edwin
by Ford Madox Brown
(English painter, 1821-1893)
IT is easy to imagine how the subjects of King Edwin
regarded his conversion to the new religion; and the
picture well illustrates their feelings. The scene is
laid in a little wooden church, whose site is now
marked by York Minster. The walls, evidently thrown up
in haste to serve for the baptism, are made of
unsmoothed boards, through which small windows have
been roughly hewn. The Romans have long since left the
country, but through these openings the remains of some
of their beautiful architecture may be seen; the
pavement, too, is a piece of Roman mosaic, contrasting
oddly enough with the crudeness of the wooden church.
Such is the setting. The central figure is that of King
Edwin, kneeling in a baptismal font of stone. The
priest stands by him and pours from a bottle the water
of baptism. The Bishop Paulinus is raising his hand in
benediction. The feelings of the surrounding group are
reflected upon their faces. The queen, to whose
influence, it is said, the king's conversion is partly
due, kneels in prayer, her waiting-woman beside her.
Her little daughter, clasping her mother's hand, gazes
upon this strange scene with wondering eyes. It is easy
to see that from those of his subjects who make up the
little congregation the king will receive small
sympathy. His warriors will have nothing to do with the
unknown God; a mother, who is evidently amused by the
proceeding, is holding up her baby that it may not miss
the sight; the little incense-bearers are seizing the
opportunity for a bit of merriment over the difficulty
of making the incense burn. Save for the queen and her
attendant they all look upon this baptism either as a
bit of folly or as a mere whim on the part of their
lord—and yet with a shade of superstitious fear lest
after all there might be something in this strange new
teaching.
|