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.
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Roger Wagner: Menorah
Wagner's major work, Menorah, Depicts the crucifixion in front of the Didcot power station. Menorah was acquired by the Ashmolean Museum in 2010 and hangs in St Giles Church Oxford.
Bill Viola and Kira Perov: Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)
Intensely theological it addressed big issues of the day and asked questions of us about meaning, life, death and what we would give our lives for.
Henry Moore: Madonna and Child
Henry Moore’s Madonna and Child is a work of international significance. The sculpture is in Hornton stone and was carved for the church by Moore in 1943-44.
Emily Young: Lunar Disc I
The large onyx disc was installed as a gift on the north west lawn in the Close of Salisbury Cathedral but has since been transported elsewhere. It is made of one billion year old, semi translucent onyx and is around two metres tall.
John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens: Light of the World
Light of the World is vast stained glass window, fully architecturally integrated in the Chapel of Robinson College, Cambridge.
Jean Cocteau: Interior murals and altar
Cocteau completed the murals between the 3rd and 11th November 1959. The theme he chose to depict was the Annunciation, the Crucifixion and the Assumption. It is said that he spoke out loud to the characters as he was drawing them. While painting the virgin he is quoted as saying, ““O you, most beautiful of women, loveliest of God’s creatures, you were the best loved.
Graeme Mortimer Evelyn: Reconciliation Reredos
Reconciliation Reredos is a contemporary artwork of universal reconciliation, that responds to the church’s past, reflects the voices of the city today, while representing the potential of the future.
Geoffrey Clarke: High Altar cross
Made from silver and plated with gold, this abstract work represents a phoenix rising from the ashes.
Susanna Heron: Still Point
Still Point is a meditative spatial work incorporated into the cathedral grounds. It has three associated parts: a stone element, a poem and a song.
Tracey Emin: For You
The artists own feminine handwriting - a rare element of Christian iconography - reads 'I Felt You And I Knew You Loved Me'.
Barbara Hepworth: Madonna and Child
Barbara Hepworth’s Madonna and Child was carved in memory of her son Paul who died in an RAF plane crash over Thailand in 1953.
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.
Shirazeh Houshiary: East window
St Martin in the Fields’ East Window by Shirazeh Houshiary in collaboration with Pip Horne was commissioned as part of major redevelopments within the church and its curtilage.
Rona Smith: North Elevation
Rona Smith’s North Window panel is constructed from a web of whirling squares suspended in the window alcove. The squares spiral out from a central 'eye' whilst the panel itself curves into the space forming a sculptural arc which echoes the two dimensional pattern.
