Editing St Paul's Cathedral (section)

==Education, tourism, and the arts==
[[File:St_Paul's_cross,_London,_England,_GB,_IMG_5127_edit.jpg|thumb|upright|Gilt statue of Saint Paul at the top of the monument to [[St Paul's Cross]] in the cathedral precinct]]

===Interpretation Project===
The Interpretation Project was a long-term project concerned with bringing St Paul's to life for all its visitors. In 2010, the [[Dean and Chapter of St Paul's]] opened St Paul's Oculus, a 270° film experience that brings 1400 years of history to life.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/Discover-the-Crypt/Oculus-an-eye-into-St-Pauls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831145534/http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/Discover-the-Crypt/Oculus-an-eye-into-St-Pauls |url-status=dead |title=Oculus: an eye into St Paul's |archive-date=31 August 2011}}</ref> It was located in the former Treasury in the crypt, the film took visitors on a journey through the history and daily life of St Paul's Cathedral. Oculus was funded by American Express Company in partnership with the [[World Monuments Fund]], J. P. Morgan, the Garfield Weston Trust for St Paul's Cathedral, the City of London Endowment Trust and AIG. It was closed by 2020. The Treasury space is now used for changing exhibitions.

In 2010, touchscreen multimedia guides were launched. These guides are included in the price of admission. Visitors can discover the cathedral's history and architecture, and learn about the daily life of a busy working church with these new multimedia guides. They are available in 12 different languages: [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[British Sign Language]] (BSL). The guides have fly-through videos of the dome galleries and zoomable close-ups of the ceiling mosaics, painting, and photography. Interviews and commentary from experts include the [[Dean of St Paul's]], the conservation team, and the Director of Music. Archive film footage includes major services and events from the cathedral's history.

====Charges for sightseers====
St Paul's charges an entrance fee for sightseers; admission to worship services is free. The entrance ticket is £25 for adults (June 2024).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stpauls.co.uk/ticket-types-and-prices/ |title=Ticket types and prices |publisher=St. Paul's Cathedral |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> Outside service times, people seeking a quiet place to pray or worship are admitted to St Dunstan's Chapel free of charge. On Sundays people are admitted only for services and concerts and there is no sightseeing. The charge to sightseers is made because St Paul's receives little regular or significant funding from the Crown, the Church of England or the state and relies on the income generated by tourism to allow the building to continue to function as a centre for Christian worship, as well as to cover general maintenance and repair work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why do we charge? |url=https://www.stpauls.co.uk/visit/why-do-we-charge |website=St Paul's Cathedral |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117122337/https://www.stpauls.co.uk/visit/why-do-we-charge |archive-date=17 January 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stpauls.co.uk/tickets |title=Book Tickets – St Paul's Cathedral |publisher=Stpauls.co.uk |date= |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210111204/https://www.stpauls.co.uk/tickets |url-status=live }}</ref>

===St Paul's Cathedral Arts Project===
The St Paul's Cathedral Arts Project explores art and [[faith]]. Projects have included installations by [[Gerry Judah]], [[Antony Gormley]], [[Rebecca Horn]], [[Yoko Ono]] and [[Martin Firrell]].

In 2014, St Paul's commissioned Gerry Judah to create an artwork in the nave to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the [[First World War]]. Two spectacular sculptures consisting of three-dimensional white cruciforms reflect the meticulously maintained war graves of northern France and further afield. Each sculpture is also embellished with miniaturised destroyed residential blocks depicting contemporary war zones in the Middle East—[[Syrian civil war|Syria]], [[Iraq War|Baghdad]], [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]]—thus connecting 100 years of warfare.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.stpauls.co.uk/News-Press/Latest-News/Giant-white-crosses-remind-St-Pauls-worshippers-and-visitors-of-the-horrors-of-warfare |title=Giant white crosses remind St Paul's worshippers and visitors of the horrors of warfare |website=Stpauls.co.uk |access-date=18 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034229/https://www.stpauls.co.uk/news-press/latest-news/giant-white-crosses-remind-st-pauls-worshippers-and-visitors-of-the-horrors-of-warfare |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Bill Viola]] has created two altarpieces for permanent display in St Paul's Cathedral. The project commenced production in mid-2009. Following the extensive programme of cleaning and repair of the interior of St Paul's, completed in 2005, Viola was commissioned to create two altarpieces on the themes of Mary and Martyrs. These two multi-screen video installations are permanently located at the end of the Quire aisles, flanking the High Altar of the cathedral and the American Memorial Chapel. Each work employs an arrangement of multiple plasma screen panels configured in a manner similar to historic altarpieces.

In summer 2010, St Paul's chose two new works by the British artist Mark Alexander to be hung on either side of the nave. Both entitled Red Mannheim, Alexander's large red silkscreens are inspired by the [[Mannheim]] Cathedral altarpiece (1739–41), which was damaged by bombing in the Second World War. The original sculpture depicts Christ on the cross, surrounded by a familiar retinue of mourners. Rendered in splendid giltwood, with Christ's wracked body sculpted in relief and the flourishes of flora and incandescent rays from heaven, this masterpiece of the German Rococo is an object of ravishing beauty and intense piety.

In March 2010, Flare II, a sculpture by [[Antony Gormley]], was installed in the [[Geometric Staircase]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://medium.com/@carly_hiller/6-unique-staircases-in-the-uk-you-wish-you-could-walk-over-ee4873ee5666 |title=6 Unique Staircases in the UK You Wish You Could Walk Over |website=Medium.com |access-date=24 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728183025/https://medium.com/@carly_hiller/6-unique-staircases-in-the-uk-you-wish-you-could-walk-over-ee4873ee5666 |archive-date=28 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2007, the Dean and Chapter commissioned Martin Firrell to create a major public artwork to mark the 300th anniversary of the topping-out of Wren's building.{{fact|date=March 2025}} The Question Mark Inside consisted of digital text projections to the cathedral dome, West Front, and inside onto the Whispering Gallery. The text was based on blog contributions by the general public as well as interviews conducted by the artist and on the artist's own views. The project presented a stream of possible answers to the question: "What makes life meaningful and purposeful, and what does St Paul's mean in that contemporary context?" The Question Mark Inside opened on 8 November 2008 and ran for eight nights.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

===Depictions of St Paul's===
St Paul's Cathedral has been depicted many times in paintings, prints, and drawings. Among the well-known artists to have painted it are Canaletto, Turner, [[Daubigny]], [[Pissarro]], [[Paul Signac|Signac]], [[Derain]], and [[Lloyd Rees]].

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180" caption="Paintings and engravings of St Paul's">
File:Giovanni Antonio Canal - The River Thames, detail.jpg|[[Canaletto]]: ''The River Thames with St. Paul's Cathedral on Lord Mayor's Day'' (1746; [[Lobkowicz Palace|Lobkowicz Collections]], Prague)
File:St Paul's by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (early 19th century).jpg|19th-century coloured engraving from the southwest by [[Thomas Hosmer Shepherd]]
File:Edward Angelo Goodall04.jpg|Romantic 19th-century engraving of St Paul's in the evening after rain by [[Edward Angelo Goodall]]
File:John O'Connor - Ludgate, Evening - 1887.jpg|Oil painting, [[John O'Connor (painter)|John O'Connor]], ''Evening on Ludgate Hill'' (1887) St Paul's looms beyond St Martin's
File:Canaletto london.jpg|''St Paul's from Richmond House'' in [[Westminster]] by the Venetian painter Canaletto (1747)
File:Antonio Joli Prospect of London.jpg|''St Paul's viewed from a loggia'', a ''[[Capriccio (art)|capriccio]]'' ({{Circa|1748}}) by [[Antonio Joli]] who also worked in Venice
File:Ernest Dade - St Paul's from the River.jpg|An Impressionist view of ''St Paul's from the River'' by [[Ernest Dade]] (before 1936)
File:Frederick Edward Joseph Goff St Paul's from Bankside.jpg|''St Paul's from Bankside'', a watercolour by Frederick E. J. Goff (before 1931)
</gallery>

====Photography and portrayal in fiction====
{{sources|section|date=May 2025}}
St Paul's Cathedral has been the subject of many photographs, including the iconic image of the dome surrounded by smoke during the [[The Blitz|Blitz]]. It has also been used in games, films and TV programmes (including [[Thames Television]]'s most recognised ident), either as the focus of the film, as in the episode of ''[[Climbing Great Buildings]]''; as a feature of the film, as in ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]''; as an incidental location such as Wren's [[Geometric Staircase]] in the southwest tower which has appeared in several films including ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', or as a playable location in the 1998 video game ''[[Tomb Raider III]]''.

Films in which St Paul's has been depicted include:

* ''St. Paul's Cathedral'' (1942), a wartime documentary film for the [[British Council]], the final part of which shows bomb damage in and around St Paul's.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://film.britishcouncil.org/st-pauls-cathedral |title=British Council Film Collection—St. Paul's Cathedral |date=2015 |website=Film.britishcouncil.org |publisher=British Council |access-date=2 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902030134/http://film.britishcouncil.org/st-pauls-cathedral |archive-date=2 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]'' (1962) shows the exterior of the building and the bust of T. E. Lawrence.
* ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' (1964) shows the steps and west front of the cathedral, the main setting for the song '"[[Feed the Birds]]'".
* St Paul's Cathedral has appeared as a filming location twice in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', in the 1968 serial ''[[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|The Invasion]]'', and in the 2014 two-part story "[[Dark Water (Doctor Who)|Dark Water]]"/"[[Death in Heaven]]". In both, the [[Cybermen]] are shown descending steps outside the cathedral.
* St Paul's is seen briefly in the ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|Goodies]]'' episode "[[Kitten Kong]]" (1971). During his rampage through London, Twinkle damages London landmarks, including St Paul's Cathedral, the dome of which is knocked off.
* In the BBC educational programme "[[Q.E.D. (BBC TV series)|A Guide to Armageddon]]" (1982), a one-megaton nuclear weapon is detonated over London, with St Paul's used as [[ground zero]].
* ''[[Lifeforce (film)|Lifeforce]]'' (1985): The cathedral's interior is the setting for the climax of the film.
* ''[[The Madness of King George]]'' (1994) shows the [[Geometric Staircase]] in the southwest bell tower.
* ''[[Tomb Raider III]]'' (1998) features St Paul's as the centerpiece of the playable London chapter, which [[Lara Croft]] explores on the hunt for the Eye of Isis. Notably, this version of St Paul's is missing the iconic dome, which appears to be destroyed. However, the ''[[Tomb Raider I–III Remastered]]'' collection (2024) fixed this and depicts St Paul's complete with its iconic dome. In addition to this, St Paul's dome is prominently displayed on the cover of the 1998 game.
* ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' (2004) shows the Geometric Staircase in the southwest bell tower, representing the staircase towards the Divination classroom.
* ''[[Star Trek Into Darkness]]'' (2013) depicts St Paul's in 23rd century London along with other notable modern-day London buildings.{{efn|[http://i.imgur.com/YdoFW.jpg Advertising poster] for ''[[Star Trek Into Darkness]]'' (2013)—bottom right, the dome is visible to the left of and behind 30 St Mary Axe (the Gherkin)}}
* St Paul's is the only building of ancient London that survived the "Sixty Minute War" in the film ''[[Mortal Engines (film)|Mortal Engines]]'' (2018) and the [[Mortal Engines Quartet|books]] it is based on.