Demeter

Opaque glass mosaic, designed by William Blake Richmond, executed by Messrs Powell of Whitefriars, completed by 1904



The two mosaics at the eastern end of the quire aisles pay tribute to ancient Roman mosaics. Perhaps a reference to The City of London's foundation as Londinium in the first century AD. In these works Richmond and his mosaicists celebrate the ancient heritage of mosaics not only in terms of subject-matter, but also by taking close inspiration from the ancient Greek and Roman ornament and compositions.



Demeter, also known under her Latin name Ceres, is one of the principal classical deities, and her inclusion in a Christian mosaic cycle is unusual. This mosaic, shows Demeter without any of her traditional attributes such as the cornucopia and wheat sheaves, but her identification was specified when the mosaic cycle was created. Demeter was the goddess of harvest and plenty, akin to a mother goddess who represents the change of the seasons and with it the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth as the seasons change. These themes make her a life-giving mother figure comparable to the Virgin Mary in Christianity.



Her myth is linked to that of Orpheus, who is depicted in the north aisle, through loss: her daughter Persephone was abducted into the Underworld; like Orpheus who did not accept the death of his wife Eurydike and rescued her from the Underworld, she too fought for the return of her daughter to earth: Persephone returns to earth for half of the year every year.



Demeter’s demeanour in this mosaic is that of somebody waiting, her empty arms crossed in front of her chest, branches with small leaves and white blossoms behind her: spring has just arrived, and soon her daughter Persephone will return from the Underworld - just as Christ, depicted in the quire nearby returned from Limbo.





Brief description: Demeter depicted as woman in a light-coloured, hooded tunic framed by a wreath border; her arms crossed in front of her chest, she is seated on a dark sphere with a long, thin cloud before it; a tree with young leaves grows behind her; the central roundel is set within in a cross-shaped composition featuring two peacocks, and four rectangular frames.



Related sources: Ovid, Metamorphoses V:565



Literature and references: Zech 2015, p. 25.