WAUGH, EVELYN | A Greek icon of Emperor Constantine and Saint Helena. Greece: circa 1810

[WAUGH, EVELYN]

A Greek icon of Emperor Constantine and Saint Helena. Greece: circa 1810

Oil on wood, heightened with gold (8 x 10¾ in.; 203 x 273 mm); some toning and crackling.

A remarkable association piece, related to the novel that Waugh deemed his best work 

This icon of Saint Helena was on display in Evelyn Waugh's Gloucestershire home, Piers Court, and was gifted to Anne Ford by him in 1950—the same year Helena was published. 

Ford was the publicity director for Little Brown—Waugh's U.S. publisher—and in 1950 the author sent her a postcard stating: “...I hope you have now seen ‘Helena’. I don’t expect it to be popular in USA but I think it my best book. Please use ‘blurb’ for it identical with English blurb. All good wishes, E”. In fact Helena proved to be more popular in the U.S. than it was in Britain, but over the past 70 years, it has been eclipsed by Brideshead Revisited and other titles of Waugh's. 

Also in 1950, Ford and her mother made a visit to Piers Court. Ford admired the icon, which was hanging in Waugh's library at the time, and as she did, the author took it from the wall and handed it to her, commenting that one day she could sell it for a tidy sum. Waugh had told Ford of the icon previously, feeling that she might find it appealing. As Waugh presented the icon to her, he noted that he had purchased it in Constantinople during World War II, and that it depicts Emperor Constantine (upper left), his mother, Saint Helena (upper right), and Saint Peter and Saint Paul below. It would appear, however, that the figures in the lower portion of the image are in fact Nicholas I, patriarch of Constantinople between 901-925, and Macarius of Corinth, a mystic who worked to sustain the Orthodox Church under Turkish rule. 

Waugh had previously visited Ford in 1948, during a U.S. tour sponsored by LIFE magazine. Ford entertained Waugh at her home in Brookline, where her mother prepared dinner. When Ford and her mother travelled to Piers Court in 1950, Waugh reciprocated by having them to dinner, and even took the care to serve the same wine as they had served him in Brookline.

Waugh's life and work were famously influenced by his Catholic faith—indeed, such themes dominate Helena—making this striking icon an incredibly relevant and intimate association piece.