Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
that the earlier ceiling was “dreary and undevotional.” The Dean and chapter wisely took
note and had it spiffed up with this brilliant mosaic work...textbook late Victorian. In sep-
arate spheres, eight “Angels of the Morning” hold up creatures of the earth, sea, and sky.
The high altar (the marble slab with crucifix and candlesticks—you'll get a close look
later) sits under a huge canopy with corkscrew columns. The canopy looks ancient, but
it only dates from 1958, when it was rebuilt after being heavily damaged in October of
1940 by the bombs of Hitler's Luftwaffe. For regular services, the priest stands beneath
the dome on the low wooden platform.
• In the north transept (to your left as you face the altar), find the big painting of Christ, in
a golden wood altarpiece. Glare? Try walking side-to-side to find the best viewing angle.
The Light of the World
(1904)
In the dark of night, Jesus—with a lantern, halo, jeweled cape, and crown of
thorns—approaches an out-of-the-way home in the woods, knocks on the door, and listens
for an invitation to come in. A Bible passage on the picture frame says: “Behold, I stand at
the door and knock...” (Revelation 3:20).
In his early twenties, William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) was in the dark night of a
spiritual crisis when he heard this verse knocking in his head. He opened his soul to Christ,
his life changed forever, and he tried to capture the experience in paint. As one of the Pre-
Raphaelites who adored medieval art (see
here
), he used symbolism, but only images the
average Brit-on-the-street could understand. The door is the closed mind, the weeds the
neglected soul, the darkness is malaise, while Christ carries the lantern of spiritual enlight-
enment.
The Anglican Communion
St. Paul's Cathedral is the symbolic (but not official) nucleus of earth's 70 million
Anglicans. The Anglican Communion is a loose association of churches—including
the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the US—with common beliefs.
The rallying point is
The topic of Common Prayer
, their handbook for worship ser-
vices.
Forged in the fires of Europe's Reformation, Anglicans see themselves as a
“middle way” between Catholics and Protestants. They retain much of the pomp
and ceremony of traditional Catholic worship but with Protestant elements such as
married priests (and, recently, female priests); attention to Scripture; and a less hier-
