ARCHITECTURE: The Picture of Peace and Passion ; for Centuries It Has Been the Centre of Strife between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Now, on the Eve of the Next Millennium, a Buddhist Artist Is Painting Jerusalem as Everybody's Holy City - a Universal Symbol of Hope. by Nonie Niesewand

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Jerusalem: the Holy City, three times holy to the 400 million Christians, Muslims and Jews, is to be celebrated in a remarkable painting by artist Ben Johnson. He hopes that his work will enable people all over the world to see Jerusalem as an expression of hope. The Vatican wants to exhibit it. And last week Michael Grade of the New Millennium Experience came to West London to admire the painting but decided that our own walled city, the Faith Zone inside the Dome, may not be the right site in which to reveal this celebration of the architectural heritage of three different faiths.

In 5,000 years, Jerusalem has withstood pillage, plague and pestilence, including the …