Southwark Cathedral – Original Painting

Cathedral frontage’s in particular were designed and built to impress.  Amassed with detailed layers upon layers of decoration they quite often leave the artist, Cathy Read, disappointed. The lines are clean, regular, and perfect – putting its best foot forward. And that is the issue. Although Cathy appreciates symmetry, she prefers things a little wilder.

We talk about facades as a fake front that people hold up concealing the ugly hidden view. Often these ancient buildings are far more interesting inside, or around the back – like the Southwark Cathedral in this view. Despite being the hidden ‘ugly’ view, consider how every attempt at decoration was made.  The stonework beautifully dressed and laid.  Intricately carved columns and a myriad of other tiny details. The glass is leaded in tiny diamond panes. Even the railings have curves and shaped tips. All the details, lovingly created by master craftsman, whose names, if they were ever known, are long forgotten.

Looking at Southwark Cathedral one cannot but marvel at the architectural revolution it represents.  The invention of the Norman arch made buildings like this possible. Today we take their buildings for granted, but can you imagine how astonishing the structures were to people at the time? They had never seen anything like these Cathedrals popping up all over the United Kingdom and Europe. We can say, “Popping up”, but in truth they took decades to build, many over a century. Southwark was certainly not the first of its kind, but regardless, it must have felt like a construction revolution. Simply, awe inspiring – as was the intention.