A depiction of a Virgin Mary in a wheelchair is among artwork featuring Christian figures with disabilities.
BBC Online reported that “Disability and the Divine” has opened at Peterborough Cathedral in what is believed to be first public exhibition of its kind.
Artist Marc Bratcher, who is disabled and used artificial intelligence and other technology to create the pictures, told the BBC: “I was born with cerebral palsy, I’ve had it all my life, so it’s just part of my life,” he said.
The cathedral said it wanted to host the exhibition to make people with disabilities less invisible in “both in religious and non-religious settings”.
As well as the exhibition, which runs until 7 July, the cathedral has been gifted one of the artworks to display permanently.
Mr Bratcher said: “As far as I’m aware, there has never been a representation or an interpretation of the Virgin Mary as a disabled woman.
“So I’m interested in starting a conversation culturally, theologically, historically, and also what it means for today as well.”
Sandie Burns, from Disability Peterborough, told the BBC the artwork “shows a different perspective”.
She said: “You could say that disabled people have been airbrushed out, but they were never put in, in the first place, to be airbrushed out.
“The fact that Mark has put disability at the centre of these pictures is such a good talking point.”
Dr Rowan Williams, Canon at Peterborough Cathedral, said she was pleased “to be able to offer a space that helps people with disabilities to see themselves represented in ways that perhaps they haven’t before”.
