Cathedral Mosaics in London

We will visit two important Cathedral Venues in London which display different styles of mosaic artistry, illustrating how different methods of creating mosaics produce markedly different results.

The visit to St Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Divine Wisdom (Moscow Road, Bayswater, London, W2 4LQ) will begin at 11am. Designed by John Oldrid Scott, the son of Sir George Gilbert Scott, the Cathedral is a Grade 1 listed 19th century building in Byzantine Revival design decorated with Byzantine-inspired religious themed mosaics. The world-famous mosaics, created by Arthur George Walker, are detailed and beautiful, with outstanding wall and dome decorations. The dome in particular is finished in gold mosaic with decorative multi-coloured enamel. This was made by the ‘direct method’ with each piece applied by hand, slightly angled to catch the light, producing a shimmering effect.

With a lunch break inbetween, the visit to Westminster Cathedral (off Victoria Street, London, SW1P 1QW) will commence at 2.30pm. The Cathedral building itself was completed in 1903. It was intended by the architect, John Francis Bentley, that the higher reaches of the Cathedral would be decorated in mosaics, but lack of funding has meant that the mosaic decoration is still an ongoing work in progress. The finished chapels with their bright mosaic colour and decoration give a glimpse of the architect’s vision.

The mosaic decoration in Westminster Cathedral illustrates changes in taste and style over 100 years. While Bentley’s style can be seen in the Holy Souls Chapel, leading modern mosaic artists have contributed to other areas of the Chapel and Panel decoration. These more modern mosaics have been made by the much cheaper ‘indirect method’ which gives a more matt effect.