Issue 39 Sept 23 - Journal - Page 40
Visit Coventry Cathedral
A rebel city on its third cathedral
Founded with a Saxon nunnery circa AD 700, Coventry
has endured conflict with King Canute (whose army
destroyed the nunnery), Henry II (whose army largely destroyed Coventry Castle), Henry VIII (whose Reformation saw the destruction of the first cathedral), Charles I
(Coventry was a parliamentary stronghold) and, in 1940,
with Hitler’s Luftwaffe. The city and cathedral share a
history of conflict just as, today, they share a determination to build justice and peace, by healing wounds and
learning to live with difference.
Stockholm City Hall completed in 1923. Other examples
of his stained glass creations can be seen in St Mary's
Church, Helsingborg (1937), Sankt Nicolai, Halmstad
(1937) and St Peter & St Sigfrid's Church, Stockholm.
The Swedish windows (1961) are located in the Lady
Chapel of the New Cathedral, immediately to the left of
the great tapestry. They were the gift of the people of
Sweden and made in the country by artist Einar Forseth
(1892-1988), who also designed the mosaic floor of the
Chapel of Unity. The cost of the Swedish windows was a
personal gift from Einar Forseth himself.
The artist John Piper was asked to design the stained glass.
His view was that with 198 small areas of window to fill,
the glass needed dazzling colour and an abstract pattern
to create unity.
The windows are notable for their use of traditional
stained glass techniques in a strikingly accessible,
Modernist style. Amongst Sweden's most celebrated
artists of the 20th century, in Sweden Forseth is remembered above all for his mosaics in the Golden Hall in
Opening times
General visiting times for the New Cathedral & Ruins
Mon-Sat 10:00am–4:00pm
Sun 12:00pm–3:30pm
Baptistery Window, by John Piper
‘A staggering design and to my mind a masterpiece.’
Described by Spence as a masterpiece the Baptistery
Window is made of 198 brightly coloured glass panels and
measures 26 metres high.
Working with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens, he created
the window from thousands of differently-sized pieces of
glass to visually vary the space and rest the eye.
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
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