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For Saint George

THE CROSS OF SAINT GEORGE snaps proudly from the flagpole above Westminster Cathedral, the Administrator of which, Msgr. Mark Langham, has given us a special St. George’s Day treat by revealing the newly-commissioned designs for completing the mosaic work in that cathedral’s chapel dedicated to the patron saint of England.

The artist Tom Phillips has designed the scheme to finish the mosaics of the chapel, dedicated to St. George and the English Martyrs.

The ceiling will be covered with flames atop a field of azure tesserae, with the name of an English martyr on each flame.

One arch will contain a mosaic depicting Tyburn Tree, the gallows where many a Catholic martyr met his fate. Marble Arch is now located on the site, and a convent of cloistered nuns is located nearby in remembrance.

One of the central features of the Chapel of Saint George and the English Martyrs is the body of Saint John Southworth. St. John was a priest from Lancashire who was sentenced to death during the Cromwellian Republic. Though sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, the order to draw and quarter was not carried out. The Spanish Ambassador took posession of the Saint’s corpse and returned it to Douai, where Southworth had studied at the English College. It was buried hidden during the French Revolution to prevent the enemy from desecrating the saintly relics, and forgotten about until the grave was unearthed in 1927, just two years before Southworth’s beatification in 1929. He was canonized, along with thirty-nine other martyrs of England and Wales, in 1970.

Published at 7:10 pm on Monday 23 April 2007. Categories: Architecture Art Church Great Britain Saints.
Comments

I have to say, the saint looks remarkably like Elvis Presley.

— american fez 26 Apr 2007 9:17 pm

Judging by his website
http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/
this artist is a real chameleon. His work ranges from total abstraction to representationalism bordering on hyper-realism.

— Dino Marcantonio 26 Apr 2007 10:36 pm

I don’t find the flames that appealing; perhaps the real mosaic will look better, but I would prefer a more traditional mosaic of the martyrs surrounding Christ with a lamb–perhaps that wouldn’t be artistic or challenging enough for the powers that be.

— T. Chan 29 Apr 2007 9:49 pm
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