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.

Read more

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.

 

Search Ecclesiart

Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 4 Stuart Hillcock Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 4 Stuart Hillcock

Antony Gormley: Transport

‘Antony Gormley’s Transport in Canterbury is a large and striking human figure, created from iron nails formerly in the roof of the Cathedral. It is suspended three metres above the floor of the site of the first burial place of St Thomas Becket in the Eastern Crypt. [...] This is a beautifully made and very clever piece of work which impresses by its technical accomplishment’ (The Very Revd Nicholas Frayling, Chair of the judging panel for the ACE Award for Art in a Religious Context, 2011).

Read More
Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 3 Stuart Hillcock Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 3 Stuart Hillcock

Laurence Edwards: Beast of Burden

Behind the altar table in Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh, Suffolk, is a powerful altarpiece by Laurence Edwards. Cast in bronze from the mud, wood and hogweed that can be found all around the Suffolk locality, Edward’s sculpture brings the precise beauty of the outside marsh into the church in a way that combines imagination, emotion and spirit.

Read More
Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 1 Laura Moffatt Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 1 Laura Moffatt

James Dougall: Hanging Pyx

Hanging Pyx was finished and installed in 2011. It is constructed from fabricated Gilding Metal and nickel plated hot forged copper. The whole piece is 96 cm high and hangs 5 feet above the altar in the Lady Chapel at Holy Trinity. It works on a rise and fall mechanism located 8 metres up in the eaves of the roof, utilising 50 metres of 1.5 mm diameter stainless steel cabling.

Read More
Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 1 Stuart Hillcock Ecclesiart, Ecclesiart Batch 1 Stuart Hillcock

Frank Roper: Candlestick and crucifix

Frank Roper's candlesticks and crucifix are a two-tiered furnishing set upon a hexagonal base. The use of geometric shapes is again referenced in the lower tier through the use of the octagon. However, the smaller scale of this tier in comparison to the base may contribute to an emphasis of height. The upper tier is circular and performs as the base for the actual candle fixture and is stabilized by three intricate buttresses.

Read More