One of the most famous pieces of ecclesiastical art work in Great Britain is 100 years old this week - and you can see it in our very own St Aidan's Church, Harehills, Leeds.
On 13 October 1916, the 1000 square foot mosaic displaying the life of St Aidan was unveiled in St Aidan’s in Harehills. The work is by Frank Brangwyn, who was later knighted and appointed a member of the Royal Academy.
Described as a man of the people, Frank Brangwyn (1867- 1956) had no formal art training and worked well into his old age producing a huge body of work.
The brightly coloured picture which stretches across the eastern apse of the late Victorian Anglican church displays stages in the life of St Aidan in one continuous scene.
It shows four periods in the saint’s life: feeding the poor (see below); his arrival in Northumbria (see right); preaching the gospel and on his deathbed. The chancel walls form part of the scheme but are in more muted colours.
St Aidan’s Church will be recognising the centenary with a Festival this Saturday (15 October) with an organ recital, songs of Jerome Kern, a lecture on the life of Aidan and a Songs of Praise finale. Events start at 11.30 am. Refreshments are available. A Festival Mass will be held on Sunday 16 October at 10 am.
St Aidan was born in the west of Ireland around 580. He trained as a priest in County Clare and on Iona in the Hebrides. From there he was sent to Northumbria to bring Christianity to the pagan north. He was the first Bishop of Lindisfarne and has left visible signs of his work all over the north of Britain. He died at Bamburgh in 651.
Frank Brangwyn was an artist of many parts. His work can be found all over the world and includes oil paintings, water colours, etchings, murals, furniture, stained glass, pottery and jewellery. He was born in Bruges in 1867 to British parents and died at his home in Sussex in 1956. The St Aidan mosaic is thought to be one of the largest ecclesiastical art works in Britain.
An Exhibition of Frank Brangwyn's work called Man of the People - has just gone on show in Scarborough Art Gallery - catch it until Jan 8.
www. scarboroughmuseumstrust.com/brangwyn