I have been invited to present a paper at a conference on Visual Theology near Nottingham on 9th May 2026. I have researched in more detail the change in Clarence’s faith between his fifteen years as a priest in England and after his moment of revelation on arriving in Bordighera. this is a new subject for us but I am on a roll with Clarence events this year ( https://clarencebicknell.com/events/ ) and keen to tap interest from any community or interest group with links to him. In my correspondence with the organisers, I find that Clarence is the archetype of a religious person swayed during life by the beauty of the natural world, and they are very keen for me to show an excerpt from the film and talk about his Road to Damascus moment on seeing Bordighera, a life-altering and spiritual revelation.
I have written a paper structured in an academic way, with sources, many of which are Valerie Lester’s MARVELS and Graham Avery’s research about Clarence in the archives of All Saints’ Church, Bordighera in London’s Metropolitan Archives https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/all_saints_archives_april2017.pdf and into his correspondence with botanist Emile Burnat.
My new paper can be downloaded at visual_theology_bicknell_april_2026
More details of the conference at https://www.visualtheology.org.uk/beauty-and-faith-part-two/ and https://www.visualtheology.org.uk/beauty-and-faith-part-two/programme/
Marcus Bicknell