Editor: The Rev Michael Burgess continues his series on God in the Arts with a look at the Annunciation of Mary in Durham Cathedral’s Galilee Chapel. It was carved by Jozef Pyrz, a Polish sculptor who was born in 1946.
Treasures old and treasures new: The Annunciation of Mary
‘Half church of God, half castle ‘gainst the Scots’ is a marvellous description of the majestic setting of Durham cathedral above the river Wear. The prince bishops of Durham were as powerful as any in the land in the Middle Ages, and that reality is conveyed by the solid Norman cathedral begun in 1093. The main part of the building was completed by 1133 – just forty years, which is an incredible achievement for a cathedral. When you enter by the north door with its familiar sanctuary knocker, it opens out into a Romanesque glory of piers, bound to this earth, but taking flight in the lofty arcades.
There is a treasury of new works that have been placed in this Norman setting: the Daily Bread window by the north door, a Pieta in the Chapel of Nine Altars, and a Russian sculpture by Sokolov. But this month we enter the Galilee Chapel at the west end. The Chapel was originally intended to be at the east end, but the foundations were not strong enough, and it was moved to the other end of the cathedral. Its name harks back to the monks gathering there for the procession to the High Altar on Sundays, just as our Lord journeyed from Galilee to the temple in Jerusalem. It is a lighter building altogether with slender columns and medieval wall paintings. The Venerable Bede who lived at Jarrow was buried here on his death in 735, and his tomb has pride of place. But the cathedral does not only reach back in time to the Anglo Saxon roots of our church. The Galilee Chapel houses a carving of the Annunciation that takes us back further, to the beginning of salvation history.
The carving of Mary is by Jozef Pyrz, a Polish sculptor who was born in 1946 and studied theology before returning to his first love of art. It reminds us of African sculptures with its beautiful face and flowing lines. We sense that this is a woman of wisdom and experience, whose life and the suffering of life seem to line her face like the grains of wood. There is repose and reflectiveness here – St Luke tells us how Mary meditated on all that had happened at the birth of Jesus in her heart. But there is also a readiness and a willingness to embrace what God is calling of her – that journey which will take her from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth, and through her son’s ministry to the foot of the cross and Pentecost.
On March 25 we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation (though this year it is moved from the Sunday to Monday 26). Just as Mary pondered these things in her heart, we can ponder Mary in this beautiful carving. Her ‘Yes’ to God made possible the incarnation. Our ‘Yes’ to God allows Christ to be born in us – one word to lead us into God’s life and love. That coming to birth of God in us is how Jozef Pyrz has written about his own work:
‘I see faces, signs of real presence. Hands and faces reveal
the authentic relationship with The Other….Sculpture is technically
space, shape and time, but emotionally it carries within itself
presence, love, truth and eternity.’