Cross of Cong
Cross of Cong | |
---|---|
Material | Various (incl. gold, silver, niello & copper). |
Created | Early Medieval Period (1123 CE – 1127 CE)[1] |
Present location | National Museum of Ireland, Dublin |
The Cross of Cong (
It was designed to be placed on top of a staff and is also a reliquary, designed to hold a purported piece of the True Cross. This gave it additional importance as an object of reverence and was undoubtedly the reason for the object's elaborate beauty.
The cross is displayed at the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, having previously been in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. It is considered one of finest examples of metalwork and decorative art of its period in Western Europe.
Description
The Cross of Cong consists of an oak cross, covered in gold, silver,
There is a large polished piece of
The cross is 30 inches (76 cm) high and the arms are 18.75 inches (47.6 cm) in breadth.[4]
As a processional cross, the cross was carried mounted on its staff at the head of a religious procession by one of the officiating clergy or
The reincarnation of centuries-old Irish metalworking techniques, such as the juxtaposition of red and yellow enamel, is seen on the Cross of Cong and Manchan shrine.[5]
-
Upper panels
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Central rock crystal
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Detail of the reverse
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Knope at base of the cross
Inscriptions
The cross has inscriptions on it,[2] – all of which are in the Irish language, with the exception of one which is in Latin.
The translated Irish language inscriptions read as follows: "A prayer for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, for the King of Ireland, for whom this shrine was made.[6] Pray for Muireadhach Ua Dubhthaigh, the Senior of Erin. Pray for Domnall mac Flannacáin Ua Dubthaig, Bishop of Connacht and Comarb [Successor] of [Saints] Comman and Ciaran, under whose superintendence the shrine was made.[7] Pray for Mael Isu mac Bratdan O Echan, who made this shrine".[4]
The Latin inscription occurs twice – once on each side of the shaft – in one case the letters of the sixth word are PAHUS, and in the other, PASUS; it should read PASSUS. A facsimile engraving (taken from a rubbing) of one of these inscriptions is shown to the right. In standard Latin this is rendered as "Hāc cruce crux tegitur quā pas[s]us conditor orbis",[8] which has been translated as "With this cross is covered the cross on which suffered the Maker of the World."[2] or, with similar meaning, as "In this cross is preserved [or conserved] the cross on which the Founder of the world suffered."[8] The inscription forms a line of dactylic hexameter.
Creation and dating
The technical and stylistic similarities to the "Cross of Cong group",[n 1] confirms without doubt the Cross of Cong was crafted in twelfth century county Roscommon.[9][10] The cross was likely commissioned by Bishop "Domnall mac Flannacain Ui Dubthaig", of Elphin,[citation needed] one of the richest episcopal see's in Medieval Ireland,[11] and created by the master gold-craftsman named Irish: Mael Isu Bratain Ui Echach ("Mailisa MacEgan"), whom O'Donovan says was Abbot of Cloncraff, in county Roscommon,[12][11] though firm evidence for this identification is lacking.[13]
The founder and patron Saint of this workshop might have been St. Assicus of Elphin.[14]
Origin and provenance
According to
In 1680,
In the 19th century,
About 1890, the cross was transferred to the newly opened National Museum of Science and Art, Dublin, which was the predecessor of the National Museum of Ireland, and remained in the same building when the National Museum of Ireland was founded in 1925. Today, the cross remains in the National Museum of Ireland, although it was on display in the
Notes
- Shrine of Manchan' are grouped as originating at the same Roscommon workshop. The Smalls Sword (c. 1100), recently discovered in Wales, has similar Urnes ornamentation.
- ^ The Annals of Tigernach note the arrival of "Christ's Cross", from which Toirdhealbhach Ó Conchobhair requested a piece. Historians, however, almost universally dismiss such claims that pieces of the True Cross were ever found. Most Medieval relics are considered not to be genuine, though many Medieval chroniclers doubtless considered them to be so.
- ^ (Petrie 1850) mistakenly calls him Humphrey Lloyd and incorrectly gives the publication date as 1709. Petrie stated that he thought that the cross must have been seen by Lloyd (meaning Lhuyd) on a tour he made of Connacht at the beginning of the 18th century. However, it appears that it was Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh who supplied Lhuyd with the details for his book by sending him copies of his own notes that he had made in 1680.
- guineasfor it.
References
- ^ a b Foster 2000, p. 51 (note to illustration)
- ^ a b c K&SEoIAS 1855, p. 417.
- ^ Karkov, Farrell & Ryan 1997, p. 257.
- ^ a b Stokes 1887, p. 109.
- ^ Harbison 2001, pp. 106.
- ^ K&SEoIAS 1855, p. 418.
- ^ Stokes 1887, pp. 107–108.
- ^ a b Wilde 1867, p. 194.
- ^ De Paor 1979, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Ó Floinn 1987, pp. 179–187.
- ^ a b Kelly 1909, pp. 1.
- ^ Mitchell 1977, pp. 190.
- ^ Murray 2006, pp. 53.
- ^ Kelly 1902, pp. 291–292.
- ^ Lhuyd 1707, p. 432.
- ^ a b Petrie 1850, p. 574.
- ^ Wilde 1867, p.174 (footnote).
- ^ Wilde 1867, p. 195.
- ^ Hall & Hall 1843, p. 368.
- ^ Wilde 1867, p. 196.
- ^ "The Cross of Cong Returns to Mayo", castlebar.ie, 25 March 2010
- ^ "Cross of Cong to be transferred to Mayo", rte.ie, 24 March 2010
Primary sources
- Petrie, George (1850), "On the Cross of Cong", Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 4: 572–585, JSTOR 20520370
- "Proceedings and Transactions", Proceedings and Transactions of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, 3 (2): 409–420, 1855, JSTOR 25493674
- The Irish Quarterly Review, vol. 1, W.B. Kelly, 1851
- ISBN 0-19-289323-8
- Hall, Samuel Carter; Hall, Anna Maria (1843), Ireland: Its Scenery, Character, &c., vol. 3, Jeremiah How
- Karkov, Catherine E; Farrell, Robert T.; Ryan, Michael, eds. (1997), The Insular Tradition, SUNY Press, p. 269 , ISBN 978-0-7914-3455-0.
- Lhuyd, Edward (1707), Archaeologia Britannica, vol. 1, Printed at the Theatre, Oxford
- Stokes, Margaret (1887), Early Christian Art in Ireland, vol. Part 1, Chapman and Hall, London
- Stokes, Margaret (1895), Notes on the Cross of Cong, Dublin University Press
- Wilde, William R. (1867), Lough Corrib, its Shores and Islands: with notices of Lough Mask, McLashan & Gill, Dublin ; Longmans Green, London
Secondary sources
- John O'Donovan, ed. (1856). Annála Rioghachta Éireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters... with a Translation and Copious Notes. 7 vols. Translated by O'Donovan (2nd ed.). Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. CELT editions. Full scans at Internet Archive: Vol. 1; Vol. 2; Vol. 3; Vol. 4; Vol. 5; Vol. 6; Indices.
- Mitchell, G.F., ed. (1977), Treasures of Early Irish Art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D.: From the Collections of the National Museum of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy, Trinity College, Dublin, Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 190, ISBN 0870991647
- Kelly, J. J. (1902), "St.Assicus", The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, A Monthly Journal, Under Episcopal Sanction, 4th, XI, Browne & Nolan, Limited, Dublin: 291–292
- Kelly, J. J. (1909), "Elphin", The Catholic Encyclopedia (online) (Volume 5 ed.), Robert Appleton Company New York, NY., p. 1, retrieved 10 October 2016
- Hourihane, Colum (2012), "The Cross of Cong", The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture, vol. 2, OUP USA, p. 225, ISBN 9780195395365
- Murray, Griffin (2006), "The Cross of Cong and some aspects of goldsmithing in pre-Norman Ireland", Historical Metallurgy, 40, Part 1 (The Art of the Early Medieval Goldsmith ed.): 49–67
- Murray, Griffin (2014), The Cross of Cong: a masterpiece of medieval Irish art, Dublin: Irish Academic Press
- De Paor, Marie (1979), Early Irish Art, vol. Aspects of Ireland 3 (reprinted 1983 ed.), Department of Foreign Affairs, ISBN 0906404037
- ISBN 9780901714541
- Harbison, Peter (2001), Hourihane, Colum (ed.), "From Ireland Coming: Irish Art from the Early Christian to the Late Gothic Period and Its European Context", Index of Christian Art occasional papers, vol. 4 (illustrated ed.), Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University Press, ISBN 069108825X
External links
- Page from the National Museum of Ireland Archived 12 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- Treasures of early Irish art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D., an exhibition catalogue from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on the Cross of Cong (cat. no. 63)