An image of the Lady Chapel taken from the south gallery, to celebrate today's feast, and a couple of pictures of the interior of the chapel.
During the summer, the chapel is the scene of a great number of weddings, its beauty and intimacy. Much of the mosaicwork was completed by a team of female mosaicists, led by Gertrude Martin - here she is in 1913.mm
I was married in the Lady chapel and still remember the wonderful light that was there as I came in on the arm of my late father.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful day.
In Byzantine iconography, the scene depicting the Dormition often shows a male figure with his hands cut off by St Michael (?) kneeling beside Our Lady. I haven't been able to find out the explanation for this. Would you know what the tradition is?
ReplyDeleteMiriam, our archivist, has come up with this explanation: Images of the Dormition usually depict theArchangel Michael
ReplyDeletein the centre foreground, who threatens the non-believer Jephonias who dared to touch the holy bier. The story goes that his hands were cut off and later miraculously restored when he converted.