International Conference – Worlds of Faith: Sculpture and Faith at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796–1916 (2021)

‘Worlds of Faith: Sculpture and Faith at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796–1916’ was convened by Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York), Dr Greg Sullivan (University of York/St Paul's Cathedral), Dr Amy Harris (University of York/St Paul's Cathedral) and Dr Marjorie Coughlan  (University of York). It was the first conference of the Pantheons: Sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral, c.1796–1916 research project, an AHRC-funded collaboration between the Department of History of Art, University of York, and St Paul’s Cathedral. It took place online on Tuesday 6 July 2021, postponed from 2020, due to the Covid pandemic.

The conference was concerned with the intersections of sculpture and various world religions at St Paul’s Cathedral between 1796 and 1916. It took the form of four respondent presentations followed by three panel discussions, which were based on questions arising from short, ten-minute presentations by the panellists, available to watch in the week before the day of the conference.

The series of eighteen presentations were object-focused, on individual monuments or small, related groups of monuments, by key scholars in the field as well as clergy. The presentations fell under one of three themes: Empires of Faith: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism; Sculpting the Bible; and The Victorian Church. Conference attendees were invited to email questions for the speakers, arising from their presentations, and these questions formed the basis of the panel discussions at the conference.

The conference itself began with a respondents’ panel of invited speakers, followed by three round-table panels for each of the three themes, which included responses to questions posed by attendees.

The conference gave rise to a special issue of the Journal of Victorian Culture: ‘Round Table: Sculpture and Faith at St Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1796–1914’ (vol. 28:1, January 2023).

For further information about the project, visit the Pantheons website.

Programme

Welcome: Dr Paula Gooder (Chancellor, St Paul’s Cathedral)

Respondents’ Panel –
    Chair: Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York)

• Prof. Caroline Vout (University of Cambridge)
• Prof. Simon Goldhill (University of Cambridge)
• Prof. Partha Mitter (University of Sussex)
• Prof. Dominic Janes (Keele University)

 Panel 1: Empires of Faith: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism –

    Chair: Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York)

• Dr Sarah Monks: John Bacon Sr. and John Bacon Jr., William Jones (completed 1799)
• Dr Greg Sullivan (University of York/St Paul’s Cathedral): Sir Francis Leggat Chantrey, Bishop Reginald Heber (post 1826) and John G. Lough, Bishop Thomas Fanshaw Middleton (1832)
• Dr Cora Gilroy-Ware (University of York): Carlo Marochetti, Captain Granville Gower Loch (1853)
• Dr Maddie Boden (Ashmolean Museum/University of York): Hart, Son, Peard & Co., Monument to Men Massacred in the Sinai Desert (1882)
• Katrina-Eve Manica (University of York): Joseph E. Boehm, Major General Charles George Gordon (post 1887)

Panel 2: Sculpting the Bible –
    Chair: Dr Amy Harris (University of York/St Paul’s Cathedral)

• Dr Kate Nichols (University of Birmingham): William F. Woodington, Genesis (1862)
• Dr Michaela Giebelhausen (The Courtauld Institute of Art): William F. Woodington, Gospel of St Luke (1862)
• Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York): William Calder Marshall, Book of Job (1863) and William Calder Marshall, Righteousness and Peace (1863)
• Dr Marjorie Coughlan (University of York): William Calder Marshall, Gospel of St Matthew (1863)

Panel 3: The Victorian Church –
    Chair: Dr Greg Sullivan (University of York)

• Rev. Prof. William Whyte (University of Oxford): George Richmond, Bishop Charles James Blomfield (post 1857)
• Rev. Prof. Peter Howarth (Queen Mary, University of London): Francis John Williamson, Dean Henry Milman (1876)
• Dr Amy Harris (University of York/St Paul’s Cathedral): Henry Hugh Armstead, Reverend Benjamin Webb (c. 1885–1890)
• Dr Jasmine Allen (The Stained Glass Museum, Ely): James Powell, Bishop Robert Billing (post 1898)
• Dr Imogen Hart (University of California, Berkeley): James Powell, Bishop Mandell Creighton (1901)
• Dr Michelle Foot (Edinburgh College of Art): Henry Pegram, Sir John Stainer (1903)
• Rev. Dr Ayla Lepine (King’s College, University of Cambridge): Frederick W. Pomeroy, Bishop Frederick Temple (1905)

Closing Remarks: Prof. Jason Edwards (University of York)