George Harvey’s painting portrays a secret outdoor Communion service during the 1600s. At this time, many Scots resisted attempts by the crown to control the church and force worship practices they believed were unbiblical. These men and women, known as Covenanters, sometimes met in hidden places for worship and the Lord’s Supper, risking their lives to stay faithful to Christ. Harvey’s painting shows the deep seriousness and quiet courage of such gatherings. Though the scene comes from the south of Scotland, the same convictions were held across the nation, including in Aberdeen, where the struggle over Christ’s authority in the church was deeply felt.

‘Now bread, — the symbol of incarnate God—

Is broken, — blest, — distributed; — and wine,

Apt emblem of the Saviour's cleansing blood,

Diffuses heavenly rapture thro' the line

Of reverential worshippers. — Divine

The element in which their souls did move;

Like the beloved disciple they recline

Each on Emanuel's bosom! — with what love

These aspirations rise up to the throne above!—'

Excerpt from ‘The Covenanters Communion’, by David Vedder (1828)