Treasure of the Month
With over 1,300 years of history, Lichfield Cathedral's story is one bursting with history, art and culture. Throughout history, the Cathedral has acquired a number of precious, rare and exquisite items, from ancient manuscripts to medieval stained glass - each with a story to be told.
This Treasure of the Month series offers the opportunity to highlight less well-known pieces from the Cathedrals collection, exploring the origins of our treasures.
Explore this month's treasure...
Treasure of the Month: Bishop Woods by Epstein
Jacob Epstein is best known for several large and challenging sculptures in public places, including Oscar Wilde’s tomb in Paris and two major Cathedral pieces: the Christ in Glory in Llandaff Cathedral and St. Michael and the Devil just down the road from Lichfield in Coventry. He was also, however, a considerable and sensitive portrait sculptor and this monument to Bishop Woods is surely amongst his finest works in this category.
Epstein was one of the leading figures of 20th-century British sculpture and, for that reason alone this piece should be much better known than it is. He was born in America but came to the UK in 1902 and became a British subject in 1911. He made an early sensation in 1913 with his vorticist Rock Drill, a nightmarish plaster figure mounted on a real rock drill. He later destroyed this piece but a reconstruction of 1974 is nearby in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
This 1958 bust of Edward Woods, who was Bishop of Lichfield from 1937 to 1953, is at first sight a simple and straightforward portrait. However, further contemplation reveals that it is far more than that. The passion and energy with which every inch of the piece is treated give it an extraordinary power. Even the bishop’s cope appears alive, such is the energy with which its every detail is modelled. By comparison, the stillness of the outsized hands endows the figure with a real devotional focus, and the detailed, concentrated face brings us to the heart of what was surely a very special man.
We find ourselves asking who is the treasure here – the sculptor or the Bishop?
Treasure of the Month: Epstein, the Bishop and the Queen Mother - A podcast with the Revd Canon Dr Gregory Platten
Explore our extraordinary sculpture of Bishop Woods, and the story behind it.
This Month The Revd Canon Dr Gregory Platten is joined by Michael Diamond, a Lay Member of Chapter, who maintains the inventory of Lichfield Cathedrals treasures.