50. 'Blessed are the Peacemakers' prints on sale, in three sizes

Orders and further information to: jccw1945@gmail.com

Prints of the painting of a famous scene from American history which features a courageous Devonian pioneer are now on sale. It is hoped that the painting itself will go on permanent display in East Budleigh, the village where Roger Conant was born just over four centuries ago.

Budleigh Salterton artist John Washington tackled the project as part of the celebrations being prepared by a group of local residents as a tribute to Conant, who founded the city of Salem in Massachusetts.

‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’ depicts what has been described as Conant’s ‘wise diplomacy’ in averting bloodshed during an encounter in 1625 between two contending factions at Cape Ann, near what is now the American city of Gloucester.  One of the factions was led by the famously pugnacious Myles Standish, seen right in the painting. He was the military adviser to the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to America five years earlier in the Mayflower.

The painting has been commended by experts from both sides of the Atlantic. Gloucester historian Mary Ellen Lepionka who has written about the famous scene offered her congratulations to the artist.

Art expert Mike Hope praised the work’s message of peace and reconciliation as well as its style. ‘The eye for detail and historical accuracy cannot be faulted,’ he noted. ‘The picture would I think act as a good focal point during the forthcoming four hundredth year celebrations.’

Among the pioneers of early America Roger Conant has been celebrated by historians for his meticulous honesty, his attitude of tolerance and conciliation, and what has been described as his character of strict integrity and devotion to principle. 

Profits from sales of the prints are being generously donated to fund other Conant 400 projects such as a commemorative blue plaque in East Budleigh.

 

The brass plate which will accompany the painting when it is finally on display