crosses, high

The intricate stonework of Celtic masons is frequently seen on wayside crosses such as this one in Ireland.

Intricately carved tall stone crosses, typically having a circle around the centre. Irish high crosses were the main Irish sculptural form from the 8th to 12th centuries and are widely considered to be among the most significant pieces of monumental art produced in medieval Europe. Although found in other parts of the British Isles where Celtic languages were spoken, this Christian art form was most developed in Ireland where variations of the genre were most numerous. Several hundred examples survive, some 34 of which are largely intact.

Beginnings From remaining evidence it is likely that the Irish high cross evolved from the carving of cross shapes on to stone slabs, probably grave markers. It is believed that the next imaginative step took place in the 8th century, with the carving of the slab into a three-dimensional free-standing shape of a cross. The tall shaft fits into a large stone base, and a stone wheel or ring joins the four arms of the cross. High crosses were elaborately decorated, and probably painted in bright colours. Unlike the stone slabs from which they developed, they are not thought to have marked graves, but were probably associated with nearby monasteries, either for protection, for ritual purposes, as a boundary marker, or, in the case of the figurative crosses, to teach the largely illiterate public.

Decoration The earliest crosses were covered in abstract decoration. The Ahenny Crosses in County Tipperary epitomize this style. Sculptors began to introduce biblical scenes from both testaments in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. The crucifixion, Christ in majesty, or the Last Judgement appear in the centre of the ring of many high crosses. The cross at Moone, County Kildare (late 8th century), and Muireadach's Cross in County Louth (early 10th century) show how the modelling and three-dimensionality of figure carving gradually increased. In the Romanesque period (late 11th and early 12th centuries) high crosses underwent their final development. Large high-relief figures, usually Christ and an ecclesiastical figure, dominate these crosses, smaller scenes being banished to the bases, as on the cross of Dysert O'Dea, County Clare. The Norman period saw the decline and extinction in the High Cross tradition.