Marvellous Mosaics: the Art of the Byzantine Revival

At the turn of the 20th century, a new artistic and architectural style arrived on the Catholic scene in England. It was based on breathing new life into two traditional approaches to church design and construction – the Byzantine and the Romanesque.

The Byzantine Revival style was influenced by the artistic traditions of the Byzantine Empire and was characterized by the use of round arches and domes, as well as intricate mosaic and frescoes. 

The Romanesque Revival, on the other hand, was influenced by the architectural styles of the medieval period, especially those found in churches and monasteries in Italy and France. This style was characterized by rounded arches, thick walls, and sturdy pillars.

Although the two styles were distinct, they were fused together in Britain to create a new approach to church art and design, variously known as the Italo-Byzantine or Byzantine-Romanesque Revival. For simplicity, we’ll refer to it as the ‘Byzantine Revival’.

The style became popular in Catholic circles, as it offered an alternative to the neoclassical and Gothic styles that were prevalent in the Anglican Church. It was the result of combining the church architecture of Milan, Venice, Rome, Ravenna and Constantinople – and then giving it a modern English twist.

Bentley and the Byzantine Revival

The pioneer of the Byzantine Revival within English Catholicism was John Francis Bentley (1839-1902). In 1894, Cardinal Vaughan chose him to be the architect of Westminster Cathedral (built between 1895 and 1903). Vaughan wanted the new cathedral to be built in the style of a Roman basilica. This would distinguish it from the nearby Westminster Abbey, which was Gothic in style. The cardinal also had an eye on the cost, in that a Roman-style cathedral would be cheaper to build and could be decorated over time.

However, Bentley’s background was as a Gothic Revival artist and architect. He wanted to build the cathedral in that style, but eventually came round to Vaughan’s way of thinking. Bentley did, however, persuade the cardinal to go with a Byzantine Revival building, rather than a Romanesque basilica. Nevertheless, the cathedral would eventually fuse together these two different styles.

Although Bentley had long been interested in Byzantine art and architecture, he had to brush up on the subject. He took it upon himself to tour the Romanesque and Byzantine churches of Italy, including San Vitale in Ravenna and St Mark’s in Venice. These two churches were both adorned with famous and beautiful mosaics. 

Bentley wanted to visit the Hagia Sophia, the former cathedral church of Constantinople (now Istanbul). However, a cholera outbreak in the city prevented him from seeing it for himself. Instead, he turned to of the writings of architect William Lethaby (1857-1931), who had recently visited the church and published a detailed book about it.

Armed with this new knowledge, Bentley set about designing the new cathedral in a combined Byzantine-Romanesque style. With the cardinal, he envisaged that in years to come, the building would gradually be decorated with harmonious mosaics. These would tell the story of the Catholic Church in Britain, as well as reinforce devotion to the Virgin Mary and St Peter.

Bentley also wanted each of the cathedral’s side chapels to reflect different Christian themes. Along with the mosaicist William Christian Symons (1845-1911), he co-designed the very first mosaic scheme, for the Chapel of the Holy Souls. This mosaic, which included the biblical story of the Three Holy Youths in the fiery furnace, was installed in 1903, a year after Bentley’s death.

The Holy Souls mosaic scheme served as a template and inspiration for the later decoration of the rest of the cathedral. In a similar manner, as the mother church of Catholics in England and Wales, the cathedral’s design also started a wider architectural and artistic trend.

The spread of the Byzantine Revival

Following its completion in 1903, architects and artists across the land looked to the new cathedral for inspiration. Particularly in the interwar period, many Catholic churches were built and decorated in a Byzantine Revival style. This included:

• St Joseph, Heywood (1913)
• Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria, Droitwich (1921) – pictured above
• Sacred Heart and St Margaret Mary, Aston (1922)
• St John the Baptist, Rochdale (1925)
• St Boniface, Tooting (1927)
• St Joseph, Burslem (1927)
• Corpus Christi, Weston-Super-Mare (1929)
• Sacred Heart and St Patrick, Middlesbrough (1932)
• St Dunstan, Moston (1937)
• St Patrick’s, Collyhurst (1937)
• St Willibrord, Clayton (1938)

Many of these new churches were enriched with mosaics, bringing a slice of Ravenna or Venice to ordinary English towns and suburbs. Some, such as Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria (Droitwich) and St John the Baptist (Rochdale) even gave the cathedral a run for its money, by becoming dazzling displays in their own right. From the 1930s onwards, Westminster Cathedral was itself decorated with further mosaics.

Masters of Mosaic

Various artists were called upon to design and produce mosaics for these Byzantine Revival churches, including:

• Gilbert Pownall (1877-1960), who in the 1930s produced many of the mosaics within Westminster Cathedral, such as those within the Lady Chapel and the Crypt;
• Gabriel Pippet (1880-1962), who in the 1920s and early 1930s completed the head-to-toe mosaic work for Sacred Heart and St Catherine’s (Droitwich);
• Boris Anrep (1883-1969), a Russian artist who completed mosaics for both Westminster Cathedral (London) and Notre Dame de France (London);
• Artists from the Ludwig Oppenheimer family firm, such as Eric Newton (1893-1965). He completed many mosaics for Catholic churches, particularly in the North-West of England, where this mosaic studio was based. 

Examples of Byzantine Revival Mosaics

Here are ten examples:

• The Three Holy Youths (John Francis Bentley and WC Symons: Westminster Cathedral, London, 1903)
• The Revelation of St John (Eric Newton: Our Lady, Chorlton, 1927)
• The Good Shepherd (Ludwig Oppenheimer: Sacred Heart, Aston, c. 1920s)
• The Perseverance of Job (Gabriel Pippet: Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria, Droitwich, 1920s)
• The Deposition of Christ (Ludwig Oppenheimer: St Boniface, Tooting, 1930)
• Christ walks on water (Gilbert Pownall: Westminster Cathedral, London, 1930s)
• The Beheading of St John the Baptist (Ludwig Oppenheimer: St John the Baptist, Rochdale, 1933)
• The Last Supper (Ludwig Oppenheimer: Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Bulwell, 1949)
• The Nativity (Boris Anrep: Notre Dame de France, 1954)
• The Road to Damascus (Boris Anrep: Westminster Cathedral, 1961-1965)

For further reading

• L’Hopital, Winefride Mary de. Westminster Cathedral and its architect. New York: Dodd, Meade and Co, 1919.
• Martin, Christopher. A Glimpse of Heaven: Catholic Churches of England and Wales. Swindon: English Heritage, 2009.
• Proctor, Robert. Building the Modern Church: Roman Catholic Church Architecture in Britain, 1955 to 1975. London: Routledge, 2014.