These two pastoral works present expansive vistas from an elevated viewpoint in an evocation of the ʻWorld Landscapeʼ style, typical of Northern Renaissance landscapes.
Worldscape (after Patinir), pays homage to Joachim Patinirʼs painting, ʻThe Temptations of St. Anthonyʼ (1524) from the Museo del Prado, Madrid. On first impression, Allchurchʼs recreation, a hybrid English landscape composed from hundreds of contemporary photographs from the Lake District to the South Downs, appears verdant and inviting. On closer inspection, human interventions within the environment add disruption: the placing of a ʻLow Emission Zoneʼ sign, a distant wind farm, the Thames Barrier flood defences, demolition, and protest, all set against a threatening, apocalyptic sky.
The same barren, scorched earth in Giovanni Belliniʼs ʻThe Agony in the Gardenʼ (1459-65) from the National Gallery, London, has been painstakingly reconstructed in Allchurchʼs Waiting for Inspiration (after Bellini). Just as Belliniʼs landscape can be seen as a reflection of Christ’s inner psychological torment in the Garden of Gethsemane, so, in turn, Allchurchʼs landscape echoes her own inner turmoil as she negotiates difficult terrain. The postcard of Belliniʼs original image lies on the ground, while the artist can be seen wandering along pathways, in search of inspiration.