Songs of Praise

Faith & Art (2019x17)

Air date: Apr 28, 2019

After the recent terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, many of which deliberately targeted worshipping Christians, we meet members of the Sri Lankan Christian community in the UK who share their grief, their prayers and their hopes for a better future. Also following the major fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, Josie d’Arby asks how it’s possible to recover from such disasters, revealing how Britain’s York Minister was rebuilt following a similar incident 35 years ago. She also explores some of the nation’s great galleries and discovers how the Christian faith is celebrated and expressed through art. In the National Gallery she meets Ben Quash, Professor of Christianity and the Arts at King’s College London, to discuss Caravaggio’s famous depiction of the resurrected Jesus at Emmaus as an example of art’s power to illuminate scripture. He tells Josie about a new free online resource which uses art to explore the Bible. Josie also meets National Gallery director Gabriele Finaldi in front of one of the gallery’s most precious treasures, The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci. Exactly 500 years since Leonardo’s death, Gabriele explains why his work is so revered and how his painting has a deep impact on people of faith. At St Martin in the Fields, Josie meets Christian painter Oliver Pengilley, who often paints during church services as an act of worship. He explains how he believes God sends him images to paint and that God uses his art to speak to people. Oliver paints a picture and the finished piece is revealed at the end of the programme. Hymns: Praise to the Holiest In the Height – Our Lady’s Church, York Ave Maria – Mary-Jess and Joanna Forest We cannot measure how you heal – Southwark Cathedral Angel Voices Ever Singing – Pershore Abbey God I look to you – Aberystwyth Arts Centre Praise My Soul The King of Heaven – St John the Baptist Church, Tideswell