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6 Modernism itself produced a conundrum that, while lacking an interest in the literal depiction of religious symbols, the growth of abstract art exemplified a widespread engagement with things spiritual. Wassily Kandinsky declared in his manifesto for modern art that 'Art is the all- important spark of inner life.' vi In the second half of the 20th Century Chichester and Coventry cathedrals re-forged links between art and religious settings. Before becoming Dean at Chichester Walter Hussey was determined as vicar of Northampton to overcome what he regarded as a rift between the Church and the arts. He commissioned contemporary works of music and art, notably from Benjamin Britten and Henry Moore who carved his beautiful 'Madonna and Child' in Hornton stone during WWII. Despite his own lack of religious faith Moore wrote: One knows that religion has been the inspiration of most of Europe's greatest painting and sculpture, and that the church in the past has encouraged and employed the greatest artists; but the great tradition of religious art seems to have got lost completely in the present day... I began thinking of the Madonna and Child for St. Matthew's by considering in what ways a Madonna and Child differs from a carving of just a 'Mother and Child'... vii From 1955 Walter Hussey undertook a programme of collaborations at Chichester including with Graham Sutherland, John Piper, Cecil Collins and Marc Chagall. Commissions of contemporary art and craft were also exceptionally ambitious for the new Coventry Cathedral. Designed by Basil Spence and rising alongside the bombed shell of the previous cathedral church of St Michael, the new building embodied the concept of reconciliation. The cathedral was dedicated by the Queen in 1962 and includes the huge tapestry by Graham Sutherland, the exterior sculpture of 'St Michael and the Devil' by Jacob Epstein, the Baptistery glass by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens, and the etched glass screen by John Hutton. Several of these artists had already explored large-scale public art as contributors to the Festival of Britain in 1951, and Coventry remains amongst the boldest examples of contemporary commissioning to be found in post-war Europe. Displaying art amidst a complex mix of architectural styles and within both huge and smaller spaces is the second difference between cathedrals and museums. Various arts programmes have developed over recent decades, including at Salisbury and at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. In 2008 Tracey Emin sought intimacy when she made 'I Felt You and I Knew You Loved me', a pink neon shining from one end of the vast Liverpool Henry Moore. Madonna and Child, 1943-44 St Matthew's Church Northampton. Hornton Stone LH226. Photograph © Henry Moore Archive Reproduced by permission of The Henry Moore Foundation

