Che Lovelace: The River, Passage, Spirit and The Vision of the Birds
For these vibrant paintings, infused with rich colours and bold abstract shapes, Lovelace drew on the lives of the people and the flora and fauna of his native Trinidad. The project was accompanied by a new memorial designed by Cardozo Kindersley and placed near the font where Cugoano was baptised, its inscription including the title of his prophetic book.
Joanna Kessel and Aproxima: Glasgow Wellspring Mosaic
This hugely ambitious undertaking was logistically challenging, as we learned from Dolly Dean of Aproxima. Site preparations included removal of the hoard from the four-metre-deep well, which revealed a fascinating collection of votive offerings. Creating 1,000 handblown tiles of coloured glass, each inlaid with pressed gold leaf plates, involved cutting-edge construction: an aluminium honeycomb cylindrical form and the same material used on spacecraft shields and cladding for the Hadron Collider. The circular mosaic had to be fitted with millimetre-wide precision and was ingeniously lowered into the well without touching the sides or capped floor, using a specially constructed gantry.
Carolyn Partleton: Pentecost and Easter copes
… The garments are not however merely decorative; they are theological statements, incorporating traditional Christian iconography, and are worn during processions for Easter and Pentecost to signify the dignity of worship and the continuity of sacred tradition.
Having this liturgical and spiritual function, they are described as “woven prayers that embody the Cathedral’s mission to unite artistry and devotion in the service of God”.
Thomas Denny: East Window
The theme of the window is ‘seeing’, interpreted here as “seeing the glory of God, and the epiphanies in ordinary and extraordinary moments in life”. The window bursts with stories, both biblical and local, with figures standing “transfixed by the mystery and meaning of their surroundings”. The story of the Transfiguration is expressed in the centre of the window, while renewal of sight, actual or metaphorical, is the subject of other scenes. Landscape recurs throughout, depicted with an intensity that evokes the work of Samuel Palmer. A continuous horizon suggests Salisbury Plain, scattered with clumps of trees and barrows; nature is abundant; and the ground is scattered with a rich layering of time.
Sophie Hacker: Elements Windows
… Hacker experimented with different enamels, choosing a transparent type which, when combined in double glazed units with a specialist clear glass, provided the clarity and translucency the trustees were seeking, while also improving the priory’s ecological impact and significantly enriching the transmission of light into the chapel, as sunlight streaming in changes the atmosphere of the chapel throughout the day and the seasons.
Marc Chagall: Stained glass windows at Tudeley
The Chagall windows at Tudeley were commissioned by Sir Henry and Lady d'Avigdor-Goldsmid in memory of Sarah d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, their daughter who died in 1963 at the tragically early age of 21, in a sailing accident off Rye. Sarah d'Avigdor-Goldsmid and her mother had visited the 1961 Louvre exhibition of Chagall's work.
George Mayer-Marton: Crucifixion mural
George Mayer-Marton’s Crucifixion mural at the Church of the Holy Rosary (1954–5) was one of several commissions by the Roman Catholic church in the North-West, but only one of three that survive.
Adrian Wiszniewski: The Good Samaritan and The House Built on Rock
Located on opposite walls of the aisles either side of the sanctuary in Liverpool Cathedral are two paintings by Adrian Wiszniewski: The Good Samaritan (south choir aisle) and The House Built on Rock (north choir aisle).
Sophie Hacker: Revealing Glory, Renewing Hope
The design is inspired by a 17th century map of the town and includes significant historical landmarks such as neolithic earthworks and an early medieval castle. The main road clearly marked on the map becomes a horizon line in the window. In the ‘sky’ above, a golden shape glows with light where the ruins of Ludgershall Castle now stand.
Pauline Caulfield: Kintbury cope
Pauline Caulfield has produced vestments and altar frontals throughout her career.
In 2018 she had an exhibition of Ecclesiastical textiles at St Augustine’s Church, Hammersmith, London.
Tim Stead: Rood screen and furniture
In 1989 Stead was commissioned by the North Sea Oil Industries to design and make the fittings for a new Memorial Chapel in the Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen: 40 chairs, a lectern, communion table, a minister's chair, a screen.
Thomas Denny: Transfiguration Window
This work 'was created in honour of Bishop Michael Ramsey, and intended to reflect his theological interests, in particular his fascination with the Transfiguration of Christ... The window is in the South Quire Aisle and is 16x16m in size. This window is technically very assured and of high quality. Its location means that it can only really be seen at close quarters, and it is indeed very detailed in its depiction of biblical images.’
Maggi Hambling: The Winchester Tapestries
Created by Maggi Hambling for the High Altar at Winchester Cathedral, these tapestries, the artist’s first, were dedicated on 7 July 2013. Maggi Hambling collaborated with Ateliers Pinton – a French tapestry workshop in the Aubusson region which has worked with artists such as Picasso, Miro, Leger and Sutherland (for Coventry).
Duncan Grant: The Victory of Calvary (or Crucifixion)
During WWII, Bishop Bell commissioned Bloomsbury group artists, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell to cover much of the church in extensive murals. Duncan Grant's The Victory of Calvary shows Christ in victory on the Cross. Jesus is not obviously suffering; here he is the victor, standing on a platform rather than hanging down. Grant originally depicted Christ unclothed, a decision which drew criticism from the Church, so he repainted a cloth around his waist.
Leonard McComb: The Bartlett Mosaics
One of many ovoid domes in the Cathedral which has been given imagery and decoration using mosaic. The works depict St Francis preaching to the birds and St Anthony to the fishes.
John Piper: The Road to Emmaus
A semi-figurative mosaic on the East wall, with an unusual black background. John Piper’s (1903-1992, British) paintings mainly focus on the British landscape and churches.
Antonia Hockton: The River of Life reredos
Antonia Hockton's River of Life reredos at St Georges, Great Bromley, Essex adds greatly to the way the altar in the side chapel works. This was just what a parish church should be doing: engaging a local artist who explores the context and makee something new that flows into the altar and on to those who worship there, and although it may have seemed a lot to the parish, it was achieved relatively inexpensively.
Charles Jagger: The Kelham Rood (Christ, The Blessed Virgin Mary and St John)
Originally sculpted for the chapel at Kelham Hall in Nottinghamshire, and commissioned by the Society of the Sacred Mission, the Rood now sits in the south nave of St John the Divine where the SSM was founded in the 19th Century.
Chris Gollon: Stations of the Cross
In 2000 Gollon was commissioned to paint 14 Stations of the Cross for the Church of St John on Bethnal Green, a grade one listed building designed by Sir John Soane. This was one of the largest commissions by the Church of England in recent times. Although previously Gollon was not best known for his religious work, the Rector Alan Green explained, "The church of St John on Bethnal Green has had a long-standing involvement with people on the fringes of our society, the sort of people who often figure in Chris' paintings.
Ceri Richards: Windows, tabernacle and reredos
Ceri Richard's reredos and stained glass were conceived as a single triptych, abstractly flowing one into another. The tabernacle has more obvious imagery: the heavens, the chalice and the cross.
Ecclesiart is an online project that raises awareness of significant works of modern and contemporary art since 1920 in UK churches and cathedrals.
The selected works represent the diversity of high quality church commissions and reflect developments in artistic practice and ecclesiastical art and design. You can explore the collection using the tiles below or by using the Ecclesiart map.
We seek to encourage increased responsibility towards works which may be under-appreciated or at risk and hope that this selection of works provides inspiring and challenging examples of art in churches useful to any parish or individual wishing to commission a new work.
We welcome nominations of new works to be added to Ecclesiart. Please email us with a short text about why you think a work of art should be included with a short theological reflection on the work and its context (no longer than 150 words) and if possible please include images. Please note that we do not accept nominations from artists for their own work.
All permanent works shortlisted for the Award for Art in a Religious Context are added to Ecclesiart. For all other nominations, the Director and trustees of Art and Christianity reserve the right to select works which they determine as meeting the criteria of aptness to context, artistic and technical merit and appropriate theological meaning.