Sculpture and Faith at St Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1796–1913: Introduction

Abstract

In our introduction, we establish the original conference context of the 15 following position papers, emphasizing that the papers represent a conversation between participants, each of whom had been allocated a single monument from St Paul’s Cathedral in the period between c. 1796 and 1913, to think about the memorial’s visual and material richness and complexity, as well as its immediate and wider cathedral location, and broader discursive contexts. We map out the historiographical contexts of the papers, within the contexts of sculpture studies, studies of church monuments, interdisciplinary studies of the nineteenth century, and histories of Victorian Christianity – and especially Anglicanism – as it intersects with other world religions, and seeks to evangelize both at home and abroad.