'This Work Has Never Been Commissioned at All': Jonathan Cronshaw Looks Back at Jacob Epstein's Madonna and Child (Column‪)‬

Forming part of the newly rebuilt Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, Cavendish Square, London, Jacob Epstein's Madonna and Child (1950-52) is an impressive sight. With its diamond-shaped composition, and over four metres in length, the work depicts the Madonna and Christ child draped in simple clothing. The Christ's arms are outstretched echoing as if prefiguring His death by crucifixion. The Madonna stares downward, deep in contemplation. Epstein wrote very little about the Madonna and Child in his autobiography, only dedicating one paragraph to its discussion. He wrote that: