Jacob Epstein: Christ in Majesty
Title: Christ in Majesty
Artist: Jacob Epstein (1880–1959, American-British)
Location: Llandaff Cathedral (C of E)
Date: 1954
After war damage, architect George Pace restored and reordered many parts of Llandaff cathedral including the large concrete sanctuary arch at the top of which is Epstein’s aluminium Christ figure.
‘I believe myself to be a return in sculpture to the human outlook, without in any way sinking back into the flabby sentimentalising or the merely decorative that went before … The deeply intimate and human were always sought by me, and so wrought, that they became classic and enduring.’ (Jacob Epstein, 1940)
Jacob Epstein studied at the Art Student’s League of New York, the Académie Julian (Paris) and the École des Beaux-Arts (Paris). He settled in London in 1905 and is now seen as one of the foremost figures in British sculpture of the early 20th century. His influences include African and Oceanic arts and his art was often deemed controversial in its day.
Major public commissions include Oscar Wilde’s tomb, Madonna and Child for Cavendish Square, London, and the façade for the British Medical Association in the Strand (now Zimbabwe House).
Further Information
Medium: Aluminium
Permanent display
See Jacob Epstein’s ‘Christ in Majesty’ on the Ecclesiart map here.
Other artworks in churches by Jacob Epstein: St Michael and the Devil (1958) & Ecce Homo (1934–5) both at Coventry Cathedral; Lazarus (1947–48) New College Chapel, Oxford.
Other contemporary/modern works of art in Llandaff Cathedral: Supper at Emmaus window, John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens (1959); Wild flower gilded metalwork in Lady Chapel reredos, Frank Roper (1954); furnishings and fittings by George Pace throughout, and particularly in the David Chapel; Virgin and Child in Lady Chapel, A G Walker, (given in 1935); Tree of Jesse east window, Geoffrey Webb, (1951); Windows depicting the Virgin Mary in Lady Chapel, Geoffrey Webb (1940);
Stained glass at Llandaff Cathedral: For comment on the stained glass see Visit Stained Glass, which is an online showcase for some of Britain’s finest stained glass windows.