Orpheus with his lyre, prefiguring King David with his harp. Designed by Sir William Blake Richmond (1842-1921) in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Closer view of the central figure.
It may seem strange that both Orpheus and Demeter appear in Richmond's mosaics for St Paul's. But in drawing "on classical culture as well as traditional Christian iconography" ("Glories in Gold and Glass"), he was embracing the whole long tradition of Christian art, which, as Diane Apostolos-Cappadona explains at the very beginning of her book on the subject, drew on and adapted "visual motifs from classical antiquity, revising traditional themes and generating a visual vocabulary of signs and symbols" (1). This takes typology in the Bible, or the foreshadowing of events and figures in the New Testament by earlier ones in the Old Testament, further back into classical mythology, and adds the weight of long tradition, even a sense of timelessness, to this body of art.
David himself does appear in Richmond's overall scheme, but lower down, among the Old Testament figures depicted on the walls of the Quire at eye-level. An older man, seated, with his harp on the ground beside him, he is seen next to one of the windows for which the artist has also designed the stained glass. Those windows were unfortunately destroyed in World War II (see "Glories in Gold and Glass"), but the mosaics remain.
Photographs 2009 by George P. Landow. Text by Landow and Jacqueline Banerjee, with many thanks to Colin Price for his help. Photographs taken and reproduced courtesy of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Link to related material
Bibliography
Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. A Guide to Christian Art. London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
"Glories in Gold and Glass: The Mosaics of St Paul's Cathedral." Google Arts and Culture. Web. 21 September 2022.
“Mosaics at St Paul's Cathedral, London.” Joy of Shards. Web. 11 July 2013.
Created 13 July 2013
Last modified 22 September 2022