Video of Bill Viola on his Commission for St Paul's Cathedral

THE TELEGRAPH
Video by Heathcliff O'Malley

Scenes from Bill Viola's video altarpiece which will be installed at St Paul's Cathedral

UNITED KINGDOM---A few years ago, the American artist Bill Viola got a mental block about the Virgin Mary. This is a big moment in the history of religious art. Over the last two millennia, tens – even hundreds – of thousands of religious paintings have been placed on the altars of the world in numerous different media. But this is the first time that moving images will take a prominent place in one of the great cathedrals of Christendom. He conceived the altarpiece dedicated to Mary to be about earth and birth, the other work is dedicated to The Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire Water), is about death, release and ascension. [link]