Coventry's Awe-Inspiring Cathedral II

I was fortunate enough to make another visit to Coventry to hear a talk at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and have time to visit the new Cathedral when the sun was shining. Not everyone likes the new building's exterior, but no one can fail to be moved by the awe-inspiring atmosphere within it. I have mentioned some of the modern masterpieces that beautify the interior elsewhere - the Sutherland Tapestry, the Baptistry Window, the Beyer tablets and others, but with sunshine was able to see them again in a fresh light. Click the heading for some more photos.

See Coventry's Awe-Inspiring Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral

Coventry Cathedral - the Sutherland Tapestry

The Sutherland Tapestry and the pipes of the huge Harrison organ. Click the heading for some more photos.

Another visit to Coventry Cathedral, following the induction of Sir Alfred Herbert into Coventry's Walk of Fame. The cathedral yields more with each visit; this time close-ups of the Sutherland tapestry 'Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph' as well as the Beardsley Cross. Sutherland’s work took ten years to design, contains over 900 colours and weighs over one tonne. It was woven by the Frères Pinton at Felletin in France, and at 74 ft high, it was the greatest tapestry in the world when it was first installed.

Coventry's Awe-Inspiring Cathedral

Part of the ruins of the old cathedral, the Sutherland tapestry over the altar and John Piper's Baptistry window, said to be 'probably the greatest piece of stained glass since the Reformation'. Click each for a larger view

Coventry Cathedral was burnt down in German air raids on the night of 14/15th November 1940 and a new cathedral reconstructed beside the shell in the 1950s. The Queen laid its foundation stone in 1956 and the new Cathedral was consecrated in 1962. Herry attended the service with his mother Annette and grandmother, Lady Herbert. Sir Alfred Herbert had made donations towards the reconstruction and the commissioning of the art works within it, as well as to his museum The Herbert nearby, but died in 1957.

The new cathedral was designed by Basil Spence. Graham Sutherland's tapestry of Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph dominates the East End, while John Hutton's screen of Saints and Angels allows the light from the fomer cathedral ruins into the Lady Chapel. John Piper's Baptistry window is said to be 'probably the greatest piece of stained glass since the Reformation'. Epstein's St Michael and the Devil guards the cathedral steps. Other contributors include Elizabeth Frink who fashioned the bronze eagle lectern given by Sir Alfred Herbert's children and grandchildren, and Ralph Beyer whose beautiful carved calligraphy adorns the walls. The whole is extraordinarily moving and beautiful.

Click the heading for more photos of the cathedral