AN ANCIENT Dearne church has been given special permission to hang a religious oil painting by a local artist.
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Jack Nicholls, blessed the Baptism of Christ by Kevin Hill at St Andrew’s church, Bolton-upon-Dearne at a service yesterday.
Kevin, 35, of Goldthorpe, attended the 10th century church as a child and completed the commission, which will hang near the font, as part of his Leeds University fine art degree course at Barnsley College.
“At college I was interested in the work of the religious artists such as Carrevagio, Rembrandt and my hero, Velasquez, so the work is very traditional.
“I also had to follow rules as special permission was needed, but the vicar, Fr Stafford, was very supportive. As it’s such an old church it’s very difficult to get things into it so we’ve had to go through all the legal channels.”
