Paula Rego’s Celebration of Women and Workers

Paula Rego‘s (1935–2022) monumental painting, Crivelli’s Garden (1990–1991), has been liberated from the National Gallery dining room and given its own space in Room 46 of the London art museum.

Inspired by a viewing of La Madonna della Rondine (The Madonna of the Swallow) (1490), a majestic altarpiece by Italian painter Carlo Crivelli, Rego decided to paint her own garden to celebrate the stories of women.

For inspiration, she looked to historical narratives of women in biblical history and stories of women in her own life.

Rego’s ten-metre-long painting depicts the Virgin Mary, Saint Catherine, and Mary Magdalene alongside family, friends, and National Gallery staff whom she met while working as the gallery’s first Associate Artist between 1990 and 1992.

It is interesting to see how Rego’s work disregards scale—we see giant female saints towering above tiny nuns and petite, courageous young women. Though some subjects are purposely larger, each subject holds our attention with its depiction of dramatic and mysterious narratives.

The painting also celebrates her homeland, Portugal. The garden scenery conveys the façades of Lisbon and Ericeira (where Rego grew up) with decorative blue and white azulejo tiles, which are deeply embedded in the country’s history and culture.

An incredibly layered work, Rego’s masterpiece reveals more with each viewing. The exhibition, Crivelli’s Garden (20 July–29 October 2023), is a rare opportunity to see the work alongside Crivelli’s original altarpiece and Rego’s life drawings and studies. ⁠

Main image: Paula Rego, Crivelli's Garden III (1990–1991). Acrylic on canvas. 189.9 x 240.9 x 2 cm. © Ostrich Arts Ltd. Courtesy the National Gallery, London.