Conference – A Portrait of the Artist as a Memorialised Man: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral c.1796–1916 (2022)
Online, 28 June 2022

‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Memorialised Man: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral c.1796–1916’ was the third and final conference of the UKRI-funded Pantheons: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796-1916 research project, a collaboration between the Department of History of Art at the University of York and St Paul’s Cathedral. The conference was convened by Simon Carter (St Paul's Cathedral), Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York), Dr Greg Sullivan (University of York/St Paul's Cathedral), and Dr Marjorie Coughlan (University of York). It took place in the Wren Suite of St Paul’s Cathedral and online on 12 December 2022.
As well as focusing on monuments to artists at St Paul's, it was also a celebration of the then forthcoming publication of Artists’ Corner of St Paul’s Cathedral by Simon Carter (Scala, February 2023),

Artists' Corner of St Paul's Cathedral by Simon Carter (Scala, 2023)
a third book in the cathedral's art guide-books series, following on from Monuments at St Paul's Cathedral 1796 – 1916 (Scala, 2021) by Jason Edwards, Amy Harris and Greg Sullivan.
The conference took the form of a symposium, in which five scholars each gave a short presentation about a single monument to a famous artist or architect commemorated in the cathedral, followed by a joint discussion panel with all the speakers.
St Paul’s is, perhaps, best known as the Parish Church of the British Empire, but a wide variety of people are commemorated at the Cathedral, artists one of the most significant groups represented there. The subjects commemorated range from influential industrial architect John Rennie, through children’s book illustrator Randolph Caldecott, to Royal Academy painters J.M.W. Turner, Frederic Leighton, and John Singer Sargent, in forms ranging from ledgers and portrait statues through tomb effigies and Symbolist murals, to a crucifix.
Following the roundtable, for those attending the conference in person, there was an opportunity to visit the monuments under discussion and the remainder of Artists’ Corner, in the Cathedral Crypt.
Read more about the research project on the Pantheons website.
Speakers
- Simon Carter (St Paul's Cathedral): St Paul’s Artists’ Corner
- Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York): Frederic Leighton
- Dr M. Greg Sullivan (St Paul's Cathedral/University of York): John Rennie
- Dr Chloe Sharpe (ESNE, Madrid): John Singer Sargent
- Dr Marjorie Coughlan (University of York): Randolph Caldecott
- Dr Richard Johns (University of York): J.M.W. Turner
Main image: Composite photograph of details from monuments at St Paul's Cathedral (photo: Pantheons project)