Irish High Crosses

Style

      

       All of the high crosses were constructed from stone. According to McCaffrey, “[the crosses] are the product of the fine stone workmanship common in Ireland at a time when stone carving was rare in the rest of Europe.” [1] England and Scotland also produced crosses in the high cross style but lost interest quickly, leaving Ireland as the only producer of high crosses as the middle ages progressed. The two different styles of cross heads on the crosses help distinguish the time period of each monument. Free-armed cross heads, for instance, characterize earlier crosses that were built before Viking influence dominated Irish art while ringed, or infilled, cross heads characterize crosses influenced by Viking aesthetics. The ringed cross head design not only gave the creators more surface to decorate but also, very practically, provided support for the cross head which was a structural issue for the crosses. The surfaces of the stone crosses were covered in finely chiseled scenes from the Bible surrounded by and infused with Celtic patterns for decoration. The scenes depicted on the crosses, although Biblical, definitely displayed elements of Celtic and Viking art styles. To top it all off, the gray stone-colored scenes were originally colored to represent in stone what was being painted in the illuminated gospels.

 

 

 

[1] Carmel McCaffrey and Leo Eaton, In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins of the Irish, from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English (Chicago: New Amsterdam Books, 2002), 168.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background Image: John Caplis Photography: High Crosses of Clonmacnoise