CovSoc founder member, Paul Maddocks, tells us a little of the history of the mosaic in the Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane. Paul writes……
The mosaic-style artwork in the Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane at Coventry Cathedral is most likely a depiction of St Michael, an angel of the Lord holding a cup to strengthen Jesus in Gethsemane. The work was created by Steven Sykes.
Before becoming known for his artistic work, Steven Sykes served as an officer in the Royal Engineers. He was an outstanding camouflage officer and became the British Army’s first Grade II Camouflage Staff Officer. During the North African campaign of the Second World War, he came to know both Basil Spence and John Hutton.
Steven Sykes later asked Basil Spence if there was anything he could do for the new Coventry Cathedral, and Basil invited him to create a work of art for the Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane, despite there being very little money available for the project.
If you visit St Michael’s Gallery in the basement of the cathedral, you can still see Steven’s original design mounted on the wall. It is surprisingly small, measuring only about a foot square.
The method Sykes used to create the artwork was both inventive and highly skilled. He began with a large slab of clay and first textured the entire surface using pieces of rough-sawn wood of various sizes. By pressing the ends of the wood into the clay, he created the small square impressions visible across the artwork.
He then carved and shaped pieces of wood into different forms, including patterns for belts, feathers, daisy shapes, leaves, and other decorative details. These were pressed repeatedly into the clay to produce recurring motifs. Similar techniques can be seen in the companion artwork depicting the three disciples asleep on the ground among ivy and foliage.
The finer details were completed using traditional clay-carving tools. This required considerable skill, as areas intended to project furthest from the finished surface — such as the nose — had to be carved deeper into the clay.
Once the carving was complete, the large slab of clay was cut into sections. This made the finished concrete panels easier to move than one enormous slab. Shuttering was then placed around each section and a special concrete known as ciment fondu was poured over the surface. This initial mixture contained no stones or pebbles. Later, a stronger layer of concrete containing stones and, most likely, metal reinforcing rods was added behind it for support.
After the concrete had fully hardened, each slab was turned over and the clay carefully removed to reveal the artwork. Any small imperfections or missing areas could then be repaired using additional ciment fondu as a patching material.
Once the surface had been cleaned, small pieces of mirrored glass and coloured tesserae were added, while gold leaf was applied to the background. It is a shame that the same treatment was not given to the companion artwork, as it would have made the figures of the sleeping disciples stand out more clearly.
Some people think the gold background is wood but if you look close you can see small cracks in the cement that cut across many of the square shapes which would be impossible if they were all different pieces of wood.