Like A Quiet Corner of London, above, John Piper’s Interior of Coventry Cathedral was painted in the immediate aftermath of a bombing raid.
At 7.20pm on 14 November 1940, the first German bombers appeared above Coventry. For the next 12 hours they laid waste to the city below, destroying thousands of buildings and killing hundreds of civilians.
Early the following morning, Piper, an official war artist, painted the aftermath of the attack. And for art historian Dr James Fox, this tiny canvas is the pick of the crop.
“It shows the city’s great medieval cathedral in ruins. The roof has collapsed, the windows are smashed, and the rubble is still smouldering.
“It was a metaphor for the entire British nation as it teetered on the brink of annihilation. In the darkest hour of WWII, the public actually saw it as an image of defiance.
“Because in the face of all that terrible destruction, those old English walls are standing firm. And if a building won’t give up, neither will the people.”
