If the metalwork of the Celtic world is its most spectacular surviving art, the stone sculpture of the Celtic world is its most monumental. The carved pillar stones of late Iron Age Gaul, the great Celtic crosses of the early medieval Irish and Scottish monasteries, the Romanized funerary monuments of Celtic Britain, the elaborate Jupiter columns of the Rhineland, and the Pictish symbol stones of eastern Scotland together form a tradition of stone carving that extends from the early first millennium BCE to the high Middle Ages. To study Celtic stone carving and high crosses is to trace the development of a public, monumental art that expressed the religious, political, and social life of Celtic-speaking communities in the most durable of all materials. These monuments are an essential complement to the contemporary tradition of Celtic metalwork and jewelry and to the ornamental vocabulary of the Hallstatt and La Tène art styles, and they form the most direct visual link to the religious world of the Celtic gods and goddesses.
The stone carving tradition of the Celtic world is not a single, continuous development. It is rather a series of regional and chronological phases, each with its own characteristics. The continental Celtic pillar stones of the late Iron Age, the Romano-Celtic funerary sculpture of the Roman period, the sub-Roman and early medieval sculpture of the post-Roman British Isles, and the great high crosses of the eighth through tenth centuries together document this long history.
The Continental Celtic Pillar Stones
The first phase of monumental Celtic stone sculpture is the pillar stone tradition of the late Iron Age, attested mainly in Gaul and the Rhineland. These pillar stones, dating from the second century BCE to the first century CE, are typically rough-hewn stone columns, often set up in religious sanctuaries or at major public sites, and decorated with carved reliefs of deities, animals, and symbolic motifs. The most famous example is the Pilier des Nautes, a Gallo-Roman pillar found in Paris in 1710 beneath the choir of Notre-Dame, which depicts a series of Celtic deities including Cernunnos, the horned god, Esus, Smertrios, and the matronae, in a relief that combines the older Celtic pictorial tradition with the conventions of Roman figural sculpture.
The Pillar of Pfalzfeld, found in the Hunsrück region of Germany and now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, is a tall four-sided stone pillar of the early first century CE, decorated with four male figures, including a warrior with a sword, a hunter, and a figure with a lyre, in a style that combines Celtic and classical elements. The Heiligenberg pillar, also from the Hunsrück, is a similar four-sided stone showing figures in similar combination. The Caisse de Saint-Vigor and the Bouchaud relief from Allier in central France are related examples that demonstrate the regional diversity of the continental Celtic pillar tradition.
These pillar stones reflect the public religious art of the late Celtic and Gallo-Roman period, and they are the closest surviving equivalents to the great temple and sanctuary architecture described by classical authors. Caesar’s account of the Gaulish sanctuaries, the Diodorus description of the great Celtic temple of the Santon at Saintes, and the surviving remains of the great fanum at Ribemont-sur-Ancre in Picardy together give a sense of the monumental setting in which the pillar stones originally stood.
Romano-Celtic Sculpture
The Roman conquest of Gaul brought Celtic stone carving into close contact with the classical tradition, and the result was a vigorous hybrid tradition often called Romano-Celtic sculpture. The most impressive surviving examples of this tradition are the great funerary monuments of Gallia Belgica and Gallia Lugdunensis, the elaborately carved Jupiter columns of the Rhineland, and the public sculpture of the Gallic and British provincial towns.
The Jupiter columns of the Rhineland and eastern Gaul are among the most distinctive monuments of Romano-Celtic sculpture. These tall, often four-sided pillars, surmounted by an image of Jupiter or a related Celtic-Roman deity, are decorated with reliefs of gods, personifications, and symbolic motifs drawn from both the classical and the Celtic repertoires. The Jupiter columns of Mainz, Bonn, and Köln-Mülheim are typical examples, and the Igel Column, a Gallo-Roman funerary monument near Trier, is one of the most elaborate of all surviving Romano-Celtic monuments, with its richly carved relief panels depicting the commerce, the social life, and the religious beliefs of the wealthy Treveran family that commissioned it.
The Cavalier Celtique of Saintes, the great Trier regional museum, and the surviving Nimès, Arles, and Vienne collections all give a sense of the richness of the Romano-Celtic sculptural tradition, and the persistence of Celtic motifs in the Roman provincial world striking features of the art of the western Empire.
The Sculpture of Roman Britain
In Roman Britain, the surviving Celtic-influenced sculpture is more limited but still significant. The Pedestal of the Four Seasons from Cirencester, the Jupiter-Taranis relief associated with the Pilier des Nautes from Paris (Lutetia), and the Coventina’s Well reliefs from Carrawburgh on Hadrian’s Wall all show the persistence of Celtic iconography in the Roman provincial context. The Lion of Warkworth, the Marching God relief from Wallsend, and the Hedda’s Stone from Hartlepool are other examples of Romano-British religious sculpture, the last being a particularly elaborate funerary monument with bilingual Latin and Celtic inscriptions and scenes of mourning and feasting.
The most distinctive feature of Romano-British religious art is the rich corpus of Celtic and Romano-Celtic votive sculpture, including the Thetford Treasure (a hoard of late Roman gold jewelry with Celtic and Mediterranean elements), the Hoxne Hoard (a hoard of late Roman gold and silver tableware with Christian and pagan elements), and the many inscribed altars and votive plaques dedicated to local and imported deities. The Mithraic sculpture of Roman Britain, including the Carrawburgh Mithraeum and the London Mithraeum, shows the persistence of older iconographic traditions in the most Romanized of British contexts.
The High Crosses of Ireland and Britain
The most spectacular phase of Celtic stone carving is the tradition of the high cross, the great freestanding stone cross of the early medieval Irish, Scottish, and Northumbrian monasteries. The high cross, with its characteristic ring around the intersection of the arms, is a uniquely Celtic Christian form, and the surviving examples, particularly in Ireland, are among the most distinctive religious monuments of early medieval Europe.
The origins of the high cross are debated. Some scholars see the form as a development of the late Roman or early Christian commemorative column, with the addition of the ring as a distinctive Irish touch. Others trace the form to the older tradition of the stone termonn cross, a simple cross marking a sanctuary boundary, raised in stone at the entrances of early Irish monasteries. The most likely explanation is that the form developed in the early medieval Irish monasteries in the eighth and ninth centuries, drawing on several older traditions, including the Roman commemorative column, the early Christian Latin cross, and the older Irish tradition of the freestanding carved stone.
The high crosses of Ireland fall into two main chronological groups. The earlier group, dating from the eighth and ninth centuries, includes the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, the Durrow Cross at Durrow, the Kells crosses at Kells, and the Iona crosses. These earlier crosses are typically simpler in form, with a more limited range of carved ornament, and the scriptural scenes they depict are often simpler and less elaborate than those of the later crosses.
The later group, dating from the tenth and eleventh centuries, includes the Cross of Muiredach at Monasterboice, the Cross of the West Door at Clonmacnoise, the Bealin Cross at Kells, and the Kells market cross. These later crosses are typically more elaborate, with extensive carved panels showing complex scriptural scenes, often with inscriptions identifying the figures depicted, and a more developed iconographic program that combines biblical scenes with the older Celtic ornamental vocabulary.
The Cross of Muiredach and the High Cross Tradition
The Cross of Muiredach at Monasterboice, a sandstone cross of the early tenth century, is often considered the finest of the Irish high crosses. The west face of the cross shows the Last Judgment, with Christ enthroned in the center, surrounded by figures of the apostles, the saved, and the damned, while the east face shows the Passion and other scenes from the life of Christ. The base of the cross shows scenes of the Fall of Man, the Expulsion, and the Temptation, and the carving is of extraordinary technical sophistication, with a level of detail and a sense of movement that rivals contemporary manuscript illumination.
The Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, dating from around 900 CE, famous of the Irish high crosses. Its west face shows the Crucifixion, with the soldiers, the holy women, and the sun and moon, while the other faces show scenes of the Passion, the Last Judgment, and other biblical subjects. The cross is also notable for its inscription, which mentions the king Flann Sinna and the abbot Colmán, and which gives a precise date for the monument.
The Bealin Cross at Kells, the Moone High Cross in County Kildare, the Ahenny High Crosses in County Tipperary, the Castledermot High Crosses in County Kildare, and the Durrow Cross at Durrow are other important Irish examples, each with its own distinctive iconographic and ornamental program. Together, the surviving Irish high crosses form one of the most remarkable bodies of monumental sculpture in the early medieval world.
The High Crosses of Scotland, Northumbria, and the Wider Celtic World
The high cross tradition spread from Ireland to Scotland, Northumbria, Wales, Cornwall, and beyond, and the surviving examples in these regions show the influence of the Irish tradition combined with local elements. The Ruthwell Cross in Dumfriesshire, an Anglian cross of the eighth century with extensive Anglo-Saxon and Irish-inspired ornament, includes the famous Dream of the Rood poem in runic inscription, a unique survival in Anglian sculpture. The Bewcastle Cross in Cumbria, a similar Anglian monument, shows the same combination of classical, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic elements. The Aberlemno Kirkyard Stone in Angus, the Aberlemno Sculptured Stone, and the Eassie Stone are notable Scottish examples, often associated with the Pictish tradition.
In Wales, the high crosses of the Margam Abbey, the Llantwit Major cross, the Carew cross, and the Nevern cross show the development of the high cross form in a Welsh context. The famous Penmon Cross on Anglesey, with its interlace ornament and its inscription, striking Welsh examples. The Cornish high crosses, including the St Cleer’s Cross and the Lanherne Cross, show the continuation of the form in a region where the Celtic language was already in decline.
In Northumbria, the Irish-influenced monastic tradition produced some of the most elaborate early medieval sculpture in the British Isles, including the famous Lindisfarne and Bamburgh crosses, fragments of which survive in the collection of the British Museum and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. The Jarrow and Wearmouth crosses, associated with the monastic foundations of Benedict Biscop, are important early examples of the fusion of Mediterranean, classical, Anglo-Saxon, and Irish traditions that produced the distinctive Northumbrian art of the late seventh and eighth centuries.
The Pictish Symbol Stones
The Pictish symbol stones of eastern Scotland form a distinctive and important body of Celtic-influenced stone carving. The Pictish tradition includes three main classes of carved stone: the class I stones of the sixth to eighth centuries, incised with abstract symbols and often Pictish animal forms; the class II stones of the eighth and ninth centuries, with carved crosses, biblical scenes, and Pictish symbols; and the class III stones of the ninth and tenth centuries, with elaborate figural scenes, often of biblical subjects.
The Aberlemno Kirkyard Stone, the Eassie Stone, the St Vigeans stones, the Aberlemno roadstones, and the famous Sueno’s Stone at Forres are among the most impressive of the surviving examples. The symbols of the Pictish tradition, which include the V-rod and the Z-rod, the mirror and comb, the crescent and V-rod, the serpent, the boar, the eagle, and the Pictish beast, are unique in the Celtic world, and their meaning is still debated. The combination of these older Pictish symbols with Christian iconography in the class II and class III stones striking features of the early medieval art of northern Britain.
The Insular Art Tradition in Stone
The carved stone tradition of the Celtic world is closely linked to the contemporary tradition of manuscript illumination, and many of the motifs and techniques of the one appear in the other. The spiral, the triskele, the interlace, the key pattern, the animal interlace, and the inhabited vine scroll that decorate the high crosses and the Pictish stones are the same motifs that appear in the Book of Durrow, the Book of Kells, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and the Echternach Gospels. The combination of elaborate ornament with religious subject matter that characterizes the insular art tradition is best seen in the great high crosses of Ireland and in the most elaborate of the Pictish and Northumbrian carved stones, and the unity of the tradition is one of its most remarkable features.
The survival of the Celtic stone-carving tradition into the late medieval and early modern periods is well attested in the continued production of high crosses in Ireland and Scotland, in the production of market crosses and boundary crosses throughout the Celtic-speaking regions, and in the many penal crosses, Mass rocks, and shrines of the post-Reformation Catholic tradition in Ireland. The carved stone crosses of the Blasket Islands, the Aran Islands, and the Skellig Michael are well-known late examples, and the tradition of folk stone carving in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales continued to use older Celtic motifs into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Related Topics
- The Celtic art and craftsmanship of which stone carving and high crosses are an essential part is examined in its broader context.
- The Hallstatt and La Tène art styles that provided the ornamental vocabulary of much Celtic stone carving are examined in detail.
- The Celtic metalwork and jewelry of the Celtic world represents a parallel and closely related tradition of Celtic craftsmanship.
- The Celtic knotwork and symbolism of later Celtic design is closely tied to the ornamental vocabulary of the high crosses.
- The Celtic religion, mythology, and spirituality of the Celtic world provides the religious context for much of the carved stone tradition.
- The history of the Celtic civilization places the development of the Celtic stone-carving tradition in its chronological and political context.