The dossal hanging behind the altar is a mosaic made of furnishing fabric and appliqué with machine embroidery, designed and made by Beverley Shore Bennett. There are nearly 5000 pieces in the central panel, which is the artist’s impression of the Transcendent Christ with the hands crafted in particular details to indicate a gesture of blessing. The three panels measure approximately 8.8 metres high by 4.5 metres wide.

The sides of the dossal include 12 panels which are representative of aspects of the Christian message. In particular, four winged creatures depict the link with the Old Testament in Ezekiel chapter 1 and later in the New Testament in Revelation chapter 4. In traditional Christian art these are identified with the four evangelists (gospel-writers) as:

Matthew - The winged creature with the head of a man

Mark - The head of a lion

Luke - The head of an ox

John - The head of an eagle

A small booklet has been published about the dossal hanging, and is available for purchase from the Cathedral office.

There are detailed pictures of the side panels below the main picture of the dossal, with explanations of what they mean. (And if you right-click to open the images individually you can see the detail of the sewing, which is well worth a look.)

The Side Panels

Detailed images of the side panels are in the gallery below. To ‘read’ them it’s best to consider them in side-to-side pairs moving down the dossal:

A (Alpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, paired with Ω (Omega) the last letter, speaking of God as ‘the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End of all Things’.
Three Nails and a Cross of Thorns signifiying Christ’s crucifixion, paired with the empty Cross, depicted in glorious victory since Jesus is now risen.
A Jewish Star of David paired with a whip with scourges. These seem to signify the two authorities who were ultimately responsible for Jesus’ death - the Jewish religious authorities and the agents of the Roman Empire.
An Ox (St Luke) paired with a Lion (St Mark)
A winged creature with the head of a man (St Matthew) paired with an Eagle (St John)
(Hidden by the altar) leaves (?) paired with ministerial robes of some sort. It’s possible the leaves refer to the tree of Life in Revelation 22 ‘whose leaves are for the healing of the nations’, and the ministerial robes to some similar imagery.