June - 320 words Russian artist to create Cathedral fresco A Russian artist is coming to Kent next month to paint the first fresco in an English cathedral in 800 years. Sergei Fyodorov has been commissioned by Rochester Cathedral to work on a huge mural. This will depict the baptism of Jesus by St John the Baptist and a great event which took place in the year 597 - the baptism of 3,000 Anglo Saxons, with King Ethelbert of Kent, by St Augustine of Canterbury.
Work is already underway preparing the wall for the artist.
Fyodorov was the ideal candidate for the work. After training at art college in Moscow, he spent three years learning his craft from Orthodox monks. His most important work is the restored Danilov Monastery, home of the Patriarch of Moscow. Fyodorov has also carried out commissions for Winchester Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The style he will be working in is one that has continued uninterrupted in Eastern Europe for more than a thousand years, Fyodorov said.