ABSTRACT
The Roman Catholic Church saw the adoption of a modern municipal architecture as a way to claim an accepted position within British society, the commissioning of modern art for churches could also contribute to achieving a higher social and political status. Art and architecture that adhered to mainstream British culture represented cultural capital, an investment that could repay the Church through an increasing recognition in society of its importance and legitimacy. Modern architects, too, wished to incorporate art in their churches. Modern artists and architects aimed to explore the limits of acceptability in church art by presenting familiar devotional elements in unexpected new forms, forcing the faithful to think more deeply about how their devotions might be interpreted in ways that were relevant in the modern world. At the same time, modern art was commissioned for a wider public audience, intended to demonstrate Catholic participation in modern culture to the world beyond the Church.
