St. Paul’s Cathedral– Part 2

St. Paul’s Cathedral– Part 2 2026-10-04T16:28:57-04:00 Ben Witherington We left you in the last post staring at the ornate Bernini inspired columns, and here’s a closer look. We need to go down the right side aisle and pay a visit to the most famous preacher and poet combination in English church history— John Donne. In the same general vicinity is the list of bishops and other major functionaries in the history of this cathedral. Notice that the earliest bishops have no last names and are from the Norman period (i.e. the 11th century). This was well before when this current form of this church was erected under the direction of Christopher Wren. Here is John Donne, in his burial shroud no less, and standing on top of a jar, perhaps even a jar for human ashes, suggesting his triumph over the grave. The inscription plaque is in Latin of course, and requires some translation. Note the contrast between the humility of the statue of Donne and the boastfulness of the statue and inscription of the war hero Admiral Nelson. Donne who was more renown for his poetry than for the ten years he was Dean of this cathedral in 1621-31 which is to say during the last ten years of his life. For inst...