‘The Blessed Trinity with the Blessed Virgin’, by Eric Gill
Wood engraving from the page for February in Saint Dominic’s calendar, A.D. 1922. Printed by Hilary Pepler at St Dominic’s Press, Ditchling in 1921.
Syn.6.91.22(8)

In this unusual engraving of the Trinity with the Blessed Virgin Mary, God the Father sits upon the throne with the Spirit hovering above Him in the form of a dove, while the Divine Word made flesh in Jesus Christ stands to the left holding his cross, and the Virgin stands to his right with her hands joined in prayer. At the Father’s feet crouches a black-and-white dog, the symbol of St Dominic, whose iconographic star appears in place of the more usual torch. Within the cross is placed the chalice, a symbol of the Eucharist, indicating that believers are united with Christ in his sacrifice upon the cross through their participation in the sacrifice of the Mass. As with the engraving for ‘January’ in this calendar, the image originated in a drawing by Elizabeth Gill, Eric’s oldest daughter, whom he had taught to draw as a young child. Now aged sixteen, she was sent abroad for a year in the second half of 1921.