Courtesy Photo
Martha Bancroft's Jesse Tree mural on display in its original home.
In 1971, artist Martha Bancroft painted a 16-foot mural of a Jesse Tree for the chancel wall of the former Parish of the Messiah in Auburndale. When Messiah merged with Trinity Church in Newton Centre in 2015, the mural was removed and is now in need of a new home.
The mural is 10 feet by 16 feet, oil on wood, and is intended to look like a medieval tapestry with figures painted in the style of "The Book of Hours" and the Mary Window of Chartres Cathedral.
"I have always known that my creativity is a gift from God," Bancroft said in an e-mail. "But creating a mural, the largest work I would ever do, helped me realize and trust that the process of creativity, first the idea, then the form, was how God would work through me."
"Many asked where I got my ideas, my inspiration, and all I could say was I just held the brush and God did the work," Bancroft said.
The mural is currently dismantled into four panels and Bancroft has offered to oversee the assemblage and any touch up painting that might be required--offering the mural as a gift to any congregation that wants it. Congregations interested in the mural are invited to contact Martha Bancroft directly at marthahb@verizon.net.
--Bridget K. Wood