Tynan Crucifixion Plaque
| The Tynan Crucifixion Plaque | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Material | Bronze |
| Size |
|
| Created | c. 1100 |
| Period/culture | Insular, Early Medieval |
| Place | Tynan, County Armagh |
| Present location | National Museum of Scotland |
The Tynan Crucifixion Plaque is a small early medieval sculpture found in 1844 near Tynan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is dated to c. 1100[2] and made from bronze.[3] As with the seven other extant Irish Crucifixion plaques, it shows the Crucifixion of Jesus in high relief, with two attendant angels hovering above his arms to his immediate left and right. Below them are representations of the Roman soldiers Stephaton (the sponge-bearer) and Longinus (the lance-bearer) driving spears into Christ's chest.
The four puncture holes on its reverse indicate that it was built as an attachment to a larger altar cross or as the front piece for an altar.[4] Its modern provenance is unknown, but it was incorrectly described as the Dungannon plaque in the 18th century. Today it is in the collection of the National Museum of Scotland.
Origion
[edit]
The Tynan Crucifixion Plaque is thought to have been found at Marrassit or College Hall townland, nearby to the parish and village of Tynan in County Armagh.[5] It is related to the Anketell Crucifixion Plaque dated to c. 1110, now in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. The two plaques are thought to have been produced by the same workshop, which may have been active in Armagh town, c. 7 miles east of Tynan.[5][6][7]
However, there are no records as to when the Tynan plaque was rediscovered. Its dating to c. 1100, that is pre-Norman, is based on its figure's similarity to those on contemporary high crosses and a 12th-century figure of Christ on a doorway on a church site in Maghera, County Londonderry.[8]
Description
[edit]As with the seven other extant early medieval Crucifixion plaques, the Tynan figures are in high relief and its central panel shows crucified Jesus surrounded by four smaller ancillary panels consisting of Stephaton and Longinus (the lance and sponge bearers) crouching in the lower quadrants, and two hovering attendant angels above Christ's arms. It is one of the smaller and later known crucifixion plaques. In contrast to the earlier examples, Christ's hands are not nailed to his cross, and unusually, the angles on the lower half have bird-like beaks.[9] His arms are elongated compared to the rest of his body.[10]
Christ is naked except for a short and tight fitting loincloth,[11] whose lines seem to intertwine into the forms of the saints below. Stephaton and Longinus' hair and garments seem to merge into the plaque's border. Like those on the Clonmacnoise Crucifixion Plaque, the faces have been worn down over the centuries, perhaps because it was used as a pax-plates—liturgical objects passed around during mass to be kissed, although the archaeologist Griffin Murray rejects this idea given that pax-plates originate from a later period in church history.[12][13] Another theory is that the plaques were intended as decoration for book covers, similar to the ivory crucifixion plaques on Carolingian bindings.[13][14] Griffin argues that they were were created to be attached to large wood and metal altar crosses, such as the Tully Lough Cross, which contains very similar figures.[13]
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Murray (2014), p. 292
- ^ Hamlin; Haworth (1982), pp. 112, 115
- ^ Johnson (1998), p. 101
- ^ Murray (2014), pp. 288, 292
- ^ a b Hamlin; Haworth (1982), p. 112
- ^ Murray (2014), pp. 297, 300
- ^ Hamlin; Haworth (1982), pp. 112–113
- ^ Hamlin; Haworth (1982), p. 113
- ^ McGill (1992), p. 59
- ^ Hamlin; Haworth (1982), p. 115
- ^ Murray (2014), p. 297
- ^ Harbison (2000), p. 15
- ^ a b c Murray (2014), p. 290
- ^ Henry (1967), pp. 112–113
Sources
[edit]- Hamlin, Ann; Hawort, R.G. "A Crucifixion Plaque Reprovenance". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 112, 1982. JSTOR 25508821
- Harbison, Peter. The Crucifixion in Irish Art. Columba Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1-8560-7278-6
- Henry, Françoise. Irish Art During the Viking Invasions, 800-1020 AD. Methuen books, 1967.ISBN 978-0-4164-4250-2
- Henry, Françoise; Marsh-Micheli, G.L. A Century of Irish Illumination (1070-1170). Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, volume 62, 1961–1963. JSTOR 25505105
- Johnson, Ruth. "Irish Crucifixion Plaques: Viking Age or Romanesque?". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 128, 1998. JSTOR 25549845
- McGill, Lochlann. In Conall's Footsteps. Brandon, 1992. ISBN 978-0-8632-2151-4
- Mitchell, G. Frank. "Foreign Influences and the Beginnings of Christian Art". In: 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. NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. ISBN 978-0-8709-9164-6
- Moss, Rachel. Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland. London: Yale University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-3001-7919-4
- Murray, Griffin. "Irish Crucifixion Plaques: a reassessment. In: Mullins, Juliet; Ni Ghradaigh, Jenifer (eds): Envisioning Christ on the Cross: Ireland and the Early Medieval West. University of Notre Dame: Thomas F.X. Noble, 2014
Further reading
[edit]- Kelly, Dorothy. "Crucifivion Plaques". Irish Arts Review Yearbook, 1990
