Irish High Crosses (4)

The high crosses are the most arresting and attractive of all the monuments which stud the Irish countryside. They are the most typically Irish. Indeed the very shape of the Celtic or ringed cross, silhouetted against the sky, has come to be identified with Ireland…Impressive the crosses certainly are. It is true to say that their colossal stature, figuratively speaking, amongst contemporary carvings is not properly recognized or appreciated…So it is necessary to point out that the Irish high crosses are unique documents in the history of sculpture.

 - Hilary Richardson and John Scarry, An Introduction to Irish High Crosses[1]

“According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it… And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

 - Exodus 25.9, 40

The artistry that went into the making of the tabernacle was a combination of forms, genre, colors, materials, styles, and textures, all of which were commanded by God and wrought by His chosen craftsmen.

Most of what was made was in a style we today might refer to as abstract art. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines abstract art as “Relating to or denoting art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but rather seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, colours, and textures”.

Very little in the way of representation featured in the construction of the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the garments for the priests. A few bells, pomegranates, almonds, and some stylized cherubim are about the only recognizable products of the artists’ work. Most of the beauty, wonder, and glory of the tabernacle depends on the use of color, light, texture, placement, and forms, and to that extent, the tabernacle can be considered a work resplendent in abstract art.

And it was a work suitable to the glory of God, for so radiant, beautiful, and fearful was the Presence of God when He filled the tabernacle, that people could not even go in or look upon it.

The art which adorns the high crosses of Ireland is a combination of abstract symbolism and abstract representationalism. Recognizable figures populate the panels of the high crosses, but they are cast in abstract forms, not because the sculptors could not do any better, but to allow the figures to encourage a more symbolic understanding.

This can be clearly seen in the carving of the twelve apostles on the west-facing base of the Moone Cross. We recognize these twelve figures as people, but not any specific people, and not exactly like the people we see every day. Because there are twelve of them, we suspect they represent the twelve apostles, for reasons we will explore later in our study. The figures are carved and arranged as abstract forms, much like the knots and spirals and other forms previously discussed, that they might represent not only the twelve apostles in their time but in their ongoing role in the Christian movement and as foundation and examples.

Abstract forms appear on many of the panels of Irish high crosses, some of nearly the same design and placement on the cross, such as the keening of the three Marys on Muiredach’s high cross of Monasterboice and the same image on the high cross of Clonmacnoise. These images represent true events, but they do so in a way that does not merely depict a particular story but invites viewers to identify with the images and enter the event and its affective power. We, like those three keening saints, experience their sorrow and enter into their weeping as we look to the crucified Savior Whose suffering was for our sin.

If we want to appreciate how arresting, attractive, and impressive the high crosses of Ireland are, we shall need to spend some time learning to understand the figuration that adorns them, both the symbolic motifs and the individual stories abstractly portrayed.

The artists who designed, rendered, and erected these beautiful high crosses had a message for their generation and ours. What they chose to depict and how they chose to arrange their themes amounts to a worldview in stone, a monument to the work of those Irish monks, missionaries, scholars, pastors, and believers whose labors in the centuries leading up to these crosses “saved civilization” (Thomas Cahill), and a declaration to the world of a faith built upon the solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

Our prayer is that the study of certain of these crosses might help us to consider in a fresh and deeper way key aspects of the divine plan of redemption and salvation, and might encourage us, as creators in our own right, to make that message known to our generation as well.

For Reflection
1. What role has art of any kind played in your Christian life?

2. Do you have a favorite work of art that speaks to you of Christ and His salvation?

Psalm 96.1-4 (Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
Sing to the LORD! O, bless His Name! All nations tell His glory!
Salvation’s tidings loud proclaim; let earth rehearse His story!
For God is greatly to be praised; His throne above all gods is raised!
Fear Him and sing His glory!

Use me today, O Lord, to show and tell the story of Jesus as I…

T. M. Moore

Support for Crosfigell comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 103 Reynolds Lane, West Grove, PA 19390.

All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Richardson and Scarry, p. 9.