The religious reformations of the ⅩⅥ and ⅩⅦ centuries led to the wholesale destruction of virtually all Christian paintings and sculpture in England, Wales, and Scotland. Fragments remain and one or two pieces. IT is all the more remarkable then that one of the pieces remaining is the exceptional painting known as the Wilton Diptych. Probably commissioned for King Richard Ⅱ or perhaps for his Queen (and now in the National Gallery, London) it shows on one panel Our Lady and the Christ Child surrounded by the glory of angels and on the other, King Richard kneeling in homage accompanied by St Edmund Martyr, St Edward the Confessor, and St John the Baptist his patrons. It is a powerful symbol of the close association between Crown and Church, of Faith and State.

Our principal focus is on the image of Mary and the Christ Child and the reminded this provides of Mary, Handmaid of the Lord, the one who gives of herself so that Christ can take flesh and be born into our world for its salvation.

A solemn declaration made by Archbishop Arundel in 1399, with the support of King Richard, insisted:
‘The contemplation of the great mystery of the Incarnation has brought all Christian nations to venerate her from whom came the beginnings of redemption. But we, as the humble servants of her inheritance and liegemen of her especial dower – as we are approved by common parlance ought to excel all others in the favour of our praises and devotions to her.’

Richard in fact had placed his kingdom under the protection of Mary in 1381, having recovered it from its ‘loss’ during the Peasants Revolt. From this event, almost certainly, is derived the idea of England as Mary’s Dowry.

The Monarch’s veneration of Mary is depicted in the painting, and the warmth of response which we see made by Jesus, Mary and heavenly host assure of God’s continued blessing to Monarch and nation, and urge veneration and piety on those who gaze on this exquisite piece.

Devotion to Mary, and wonder at her role in Salvation History is also at the heart of one of the best known Middle English verses, I sing of a maiden dating from perhaps the 1400s, a little while after the Wilton Diptych.

(in modern English)
I sing of a maiden
That is matchless,
King of all kings
For her son she chose.

He came as still
Where his mother was
As dew in April
That falls on the grass.

He came as still
To his mother’s bower
As dew in April
That falls on the flower.

He came as still
Where his mother lay
As dew in April
That falls on the spray.

Mother and maiden
There was never, ever one but she;
Well may such a lady
God’s mother be.

In the simplest language the poem celebrates the incarnation and evokes its wonder through the most accessible imagery. The sheer gratuity of God’s self-gift overwhelms us; the only appropriate response is thanksgiving and worship.

from Magnificat: Liturgies and Events of the Papal Visit of Pope Benedict ⅩⅥ to the United Kingdom.