Internationally acclaimed artist at Manchester Cathedral

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 09:48

Manchester Cathedral will be exhibiting Ghislaine Howard’s acclaimed series of monochrome paintings The Stations of The Cross: The Captive Figure during Lent and Easter 2010.

Since their completion in 2000 the series has toured various British Cathedrals to great acclaim. When shown at Gloucester Cathedral, Her Majesty the Queen was presented with a study for ‘The Women of Jerusalem’.

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Manchester Miracles

Last Updated on Friday, 19 February 2010 10:25

A response to the debate on the Equality Bill

We struggle after equality, after a better society. We try to legislate for it. But we’ll never get there on our own. We need God’s help. We need miracles. I believe they happen.

I work in Sedgley Park, at the Police Training School. It’s surrounded by Manchester’s orthodox Jewish community. Large hats and black coats, skull caps and beards are all around me every day. Sometimes it can feel a bit unsettling as I walk to

work, even a wee bit threatening.

But now it’s Friday evening. I’m walking home. People are on the streets, and in large numbers. The Sabbath has begun. En route to the Synagogue, or heading home, groups gather on street corners They chat away. Nobody is driving, no- one’s in a hurry.

Peace has descended. It‘s a holy night; I’m treading on holy ground. A sense of Prayer, a sense of God’s presence, they enter into me. I’ve moved beyond the surfaces (the hats and beards). A warmth wells up inside me towards His people.

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The Stations of the Cross/The Captive Figure by Ghislaine Howard

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 12:01

Like the greatest examples of Christian art, this acclaimed series of paintings by the artist Ghislaine Howard is at once religious and humanitarian in character. Completed in the year 2000, these works invite the viewer to contemplate a series of events that rest at the very heart of the Christian liturgy.

Each one of these fourteen large monochrome canvases marks a moment of Christ’s final journey to his place of crucifixion, imagined as if witnessed by a bystander in the crowd.

In a letter to the artist, Sister Wendy Beckett wrote, ‘your Stations have a passionate roughness that seems sublimely right for the pain and confusion of Christ’s Passion. They call out to the viewer the meaning of Christ’s suffering.”

These works also speak of the power of the individual human spirit to withstand suffering in whatever form it might take. Dan Jones of Amnesty International has written that ‘this sequence opens up opportunities to highlight and explore the issue of torture and the plight of victims of oppression all over the world.’

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Up on the roof

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 12:00

The scale of the roof area at Manchester Cathedral dates back to the Middle Ages when the Chantry Chapels were added and the width increased.

The roofs of Manchester Cathedral are mostly lead (with exception of the tower roof) of varying age and condition. The chancel was re-roofed some 26 years ago. In comparison, the South aisles were laid approximately 65 years ago. In the last quinquennial inspection, carried out in 2007, the poor condition of the aisle lead roofs was highlighted – the South aisles being the worst affected area.

It was deemed that urgent action was required – there were splits at the end of rolls, in the centre of bays and in the gutters. Leaks onto the Cathedral floor itself added to the concern.

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