Fourteen giant silk panels bring Revelation to Truro Cathedral

Walk into Truro Cathedral this September and the nave fills with something churches don’t usually hold: fourteen towering panels of silk, paint and gold leaf, each one taller than a front door, retelling the strangest and most visionary book in the Bible.

Fourteen panels, three years in the making

Following the success of Threads Through Creation in 2025, textile artist Jacqui Parkinson’s exhibition ‘Threads Through Revelation’ returns to Truro Cathedral from Tuesday 3 September to Sunday 5 October. It is a stunning display of fourteen enormous embroidered silk panels exploring the extraordinary visions recorded by John in the book of Revelation, built from vibrant silks, paint, metallic leathers and gold leaf.

The exhibition has already attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors at venues across England, and this run in Truro is the only chance to see it in Cornwall.

A book many people give up on

Created over more than three years, the exhibition invites visitors into a world of powerful symbolism and big themes: hope and judgement, good and evil, heaven and earth, and ultimately the promise of a new creation.

Revelation can feel confusing or intimidating on the page. These panels offer a way in that has helped countless visitors engage with the text differently, and having toured cathedrals and churches across the UK, Threads Through Revelation continues to captivate audiences of all ages.

What people are saying

Visitors have described the exhibition as breathtaking, inspiring and deeply moving. Among the feedback shared by the touring exhibition:

“What an amazing exhibition. You could spend all day looking at these beautiful panels and would still see something different.”

“Wow! What a beautiful exhibition! I loved seeing the visual interpretations of John’s Revelation, so powerful.”

Why Truro Cathedral wanted it back

The Reverend Canon Ali Hogger Gadsby, interim Dean of Truro Cathedral, said: “The book of Revelation is a proclamation of the sovereignty of Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the King of Kings (Revelation 1:8, 19:16). John’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1-2) is hope filled and awe inspiring. We are thrilled to be hosting this artwork from Revelation in the cathedral church for Cornwall, a place that joins in the proclamation of the King of Kings, and the hope that only comes through him. Please do visit as we display Jacqui’s work, we look forward to welcoming you.”

Who is Jacqui Parkinson?

Jacqui Parkinson is a textile artist who uses fabric and stitching to produce her large-scale panels, with a principal interest in bringing the message of God’s love through her artwork. She was born in Manchester and lived in London for many years, where she taught drama and later ran an arts centre. Discovering a love of stitching at a textile workshop changed the direction of her life. She went on to take a degree in Embroidered Textiles and turned to textile art as a career.

Between 2004 and 2011 Jacqui was commissioned to stitch first one, and then a series of eleven small exhibitions to tour cathedrals for the Deo Gloria Trust, exhibitions that have been touring ever since and have been shown in most of the cathedrals of England. She moved to Devon in 2009 and soon began working on a larger scale.

In 2014 she started what is reckoned to be the largest textile project by a single artist ever, Threads Through Revelation, reimagining the last book of the Bible across fourteen huge panels. It toured fourteen cathedrals between 2016 and 2018. She then worked on Threads Through Creation, which took three years to produce and has been touring twenty cathedrals and great churches, with Truro its first and only scheduled stop in Cornwall.

Jacqui’s exhibitions have now attracted more than a million visitors between them. She has completed a trilogy, Threads Through the Bible, made up of Threads Through Creation, Threads Through the Cross and Threads Through Revelation, 44 huge panels in total that started touring at Liverpool Cathedral in 2025 and are planned to continue into 2028.

Visiting Threads Through Revelation

Threads Through Revelation runs at Truro Cathedral from Tuesday 3 September to Sunday 5 October, and is available to view during general visiting times. There is no charge for admission to the cathedral, but donations are very much appreciated.

“What an amazing exhibition,” reads one piece of visitor feedback. “You could spend all day looking at these beautiful panels and would still see something different.”