Portrait of Pioneering Bishop "captures his wicked humour"

A portrait of Bishop John Satterthwaite, who was the first Bishop of the Church of England's Diocese in Europe, "captures the wicked glint in his eye" that those who worked with him remember most vividly, they said at its unveiling in October.

The portrait was painted by Mrs Kathy Priddis, a professional portrait painter and wife of the Bishop of Warwick. It was unveiled at St Matthew's Church Westminster after the annual service of The Friends of the Diocese in Europe, and will hang in the diocesan office in London. Bishop John was not present at the unveiling, but has seen the portrait and is said to like it.

Bishop John, who is now retired and living in Cumbria, saw the Diocese in Europe through from being an offshoot of the Diocese of London to a fully separate Diocese.

The Diocese of Gibraltar had existed since 1842, overseeing English speaking Church of England chaplaincies in southern Europe. From 1883 a Suffragan bishop in the London Diocese, later known as the Bishop of Fulham, also oversaw chaplaincies in northern and central Europe on behalf of the Bishop of London.

Bishop John was the Suffragan Bishop of Fulham from 1970 to 1980. In 1980 the two episcopal areas were combined into one diocese, the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe (generally known simply as "The Diocese in Europe"), and Bishop John became its first Bishop and continued in the post until he retired in 1993.Through his efforts the diocese took on its present shape and scope.

Kathy Priddis is a professional portrait painter who already numbers several bishops or former bishops among her subjects, including the Rt Revd Stephen Sykes (Bishop of Ely 1990-99), the Primate of New Zealand and Polynesia, and the Bishop of Southern Ohio, as well as head teachers, town councillors and others.

She also undertakes Christian figurative painting to raise money for charities. She began painting when she was five years old, and had her first commission aged 12. She trained and worked as an art teacher, and returned to painting professionally after she had raised three children.

Bishop John attended five sittings at The Priory in Carlisle. Mrs Priddis then spent most of the next five weeks completing the portrait.

The photograph shows Mrs Priddis and the current Bishop, the Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell, with the portrait