Coventry Cathedral, West Midlands (Warwickshire)
Address
Cathedral Church of St Michael, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FBTheme
Overview
Coventry has some of the most famous windows in England of the post war period. A brilliant achievement that shows how windows can and must be integrated into the design of a building and not added as an afterthought.
Any visitor should be inspired by the spectacular nave windows by Lawrence Lee, Geoffrey Clarke and Keith New (1952-61), and the equally fabulous baptistry window by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens (1959-62). While not forgetting the striking engraved west entrance screen of saints and angels by John Hutton (1962), and the five windows (1962) by Einar Forseth, by the Swedish Steps. (Forseth also created the mosaic floor in the Chapel of Unity).
A paper by Philippa Martin on Lawrence Lee and Coventry Cathedral can be found both here and in the Themes section under ‘Lawrence Lee – A Celebration’
Highlight
Chapel of Unity windowsArtist, maker and date
Margaret Traherne, 1961Reason for highlighting
Away from the glories of the main body of the cathedral is the more intimate, non-denominational space of the Chapel of Unity, with its own special charm. Here Margaret Traherne has used the symbolism of colour rather than imagery to great effect. Thick slabs of glass transform the light, and on a sunny day produce beautiful washes of colour across the concrete buttresses of the chapel.
Artist/maker notes
Margaret Traherne (1919-2006) was one of the most eminent and distinguished artists of her generation. She worked and taught in a variety of artistic media, but especially stained glass, where her talents were internationally recognised. Her studies include a period at the Royal College of Art, where she was tutored by Lawrence Lee and Martin Travers, and was inspired by the stained glass work of Evie Hone.
Source : Obituary for Margaret Traherne by Sarah Brown – The Guardian
Comments by
Peter Hildebrand