Award-winning poet offered National Gallery commission

An award-winning Jewish poet has won a top commission from the National Gallery.

Dr Aviva Dautch is one of 20 authors selected to pen a written response to a new National Gallery virtual exhibition on religion and art.

Called ‘Fruits of the Spirit: Art From the Heart’, it matches nine iconic Christian art pieces with contemporary artwork and asks contributors to write their response.

Aviva chose to match the theme of faith with Italian painter Orazio Gentileschi’s ‘The Finding of Moses‘, which dates from the early 1630s.

She said: “As a Jewish woman poet, it was a creative challenge to think about how to view these Christian paintings and consider the relationship between art and religion. My poem explores the role of women in artistic representations of Biblical narratives.”

The exhibition runs until 30 April and can be viewed here