Jean Cocteau in London, London, England

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting several sites decorated by Jean Cocteau on the French Riviera, but I was surprised to find his work in the center of London. Just off Leicester Square (pronounced Lester Square) there is a church with a chapel decorated with Cocteau’s trademark drawings.

At first sight, it’s not obvious that this a church. It’s tucked between two buildings and isn’t a traditional church style. The unassuming entry leads to a round interior. This is because the original structure, built in 1793, was designed to display panoramas. It was popular entertainment at that time to visit 360° painted panoramas of European capitals or historic events. The display would be repainted regularly and people would come to experience “theatre in the round” before film or photography were invented.

In 1865, the panorama was converted into a French Catholic Church, Notre Dame de France, to serve the large French population in the area. The building was damaged by bombing during the war, but in 1941 it was repaired and resumed its religious function.

In 1953 the church was completely rebuilt on the old round plan. The foundation stone for the new building was brought from Chartres Cathedral in France. Two years later, the new church was complete and ready to be decorated. It was decided that this church should be a showcase of French sacred art. So all the art was commissioned from French artists - the most famous among them, was Jean Cocteau. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).