Coventry Cathedral: Artwork installed in place of vandalised window

The work has been made out of glass by a German artist

A new work of art has been installed at Coventry Cathedral, to temporarily stand in place of a vandalised etched window.

The Lichtung is the work of artist Anne Petters and remains in place until February.

It has gone on display close to the shattered Angel of Eternal Gospel, in the cathedral's West Screen.

A series of commissions has been lined up to replace the broken window, which was designed by John Hutton.

The Dean of Coventry, the Very Rev John Witcombe, said the smashing of the Angel of Eternal Gospel "made a devastating sound as it resonated around our cathedral".

But he said: "We seek a creative response to this act of violence and further our 60-year tradition of working with artists as part of our reconciliation work.

"It's our own poetic, spiritual Fourth Plinth."

The Angel of Eternal Gospel was smashed when intruders stole a collection box on 23 January 2020

Anne Petters comes from Dresden, which was was twinned with Coventry following World War Two in recognition of the bombing both cities endured.

Her work is formed of two parts, and the first, Lichtung-Break-in, is a piece of broken window glass from the West Screen.

She said it "both magnifies and projects on to the now blank window where the Angel of the Eternal Gospel used to be".

The other part, called Lichtung - White Drift, is located nearby.

The West Screen's engravings were created by John Hutton and are made up of 66 separate images. When he died in 1978 his ashes were buried at the foot of the window.

Glass artist Ms Petters said she was "overwhelmed" when she first saw the West Screen in 2016 and said it "feels dangerous, almost threatening, but fragile at the same time, an attribute which is always inherent in the material glass".

She said it was a "huge honour" to be asked to display her work in the cathedral.

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