18 February 2026 – 03 April 2026
'Magdalene at the Base of the Cross' by Chris Gollon (1953 - 2017)
Southwark Cathedral, London
This painting is displayed beside the High Altar in Southwark Cathedral during Lent, which overlaps Women’s History Month in March, details here: Lent 2026 Southwark Cathedral.
It is on loan from a private collection, unseen since 2016, when it was part of Chris Gollon’s national touring exhibition to English cathedrals ‘Incarnation, Mary and Women from the Bible’ (2014 – 2016). Postcards and catalogues are available in the Cathedral Shop.
The painting is also featured in the documentary ‘CHRIS GOLLON: Life in Paint’ (85mins), which was screened in the Cathedral on the evening of Friday 6th March.
Magdalene at the Base of the Cross’ by Chris Gollon was first shown in Gollon’s national touring exhibition to English cathedrals ‘Incarnation, Mary and Women from the Bible’ (2014 – 2016), which travelled to the cathedrals of Guildford, Norwich, Chichester, Durham and Hereford, before finishing in Romsey Abbey.
Gollon also brought women to the fore, painting them as modern, feisty, brave women, in his ‘Fourteen Stations of the Cross’, permanently installed in the Grade I listed Church of St John on Bethnal Green, designed by Sir John Soane. In the documentary ‘CHRIS GOLLON: Life in Paint’, writer Sara Maitland remarks: “I’m an old-style feminist […] trying to bring that sort of feminism into some sort of relationship with the Gospels, and Chris just does it”. Gollon biographer art historian Tamsin Pickeral notes: ‘Magdalene at the Base of the Cross’ “has an increasing earthiness, seen in her muscly, knotted arms and her workmanlike hands. Clearly this is a woman who has toiled, and yet she is also incredibly beautiful.”
Documentary Screening Southwark Cathedral 6th March, to purchase tickets (£5) click: ‘CHRIS GOLLON: Life in Paint’ (85mins).
Doors open at 6.45pm for refreshments. At 7.15pm, prior to the screening, Reverend Canon Kathryn Fleming, Canon Precentor of Southwark Cathedral, and Reverend Dr Julie Gittoes, Vicar of St Mary’s & Christ Church, Area Dean of Barnet, will say a few words about ‘Magdalene at the Base of the Cross’, and the relevance of Chris Gollon’s imagery to Women’s History Month. The film starts at 7.30pm, tickets £5 purchasable via the link above.
‘Incarnation, Mary and Women from the Bible’ catalogue, with texts by writers including Sara Maitland and Tamsin Pickeral, are available from our online Shop or the Cathedral shop.
