The crucifixion in Irish art: fifty selected examples from the ninth to the twentieth century

By Peter Harbison

"The Crucifixion...is the only religious event or scene that has been represented in Irish art in virtually every century from the year 800 down to the present day. Crucifixes and crucifixion scenes thus provide an ideal and consistent yardstick against which we can measure the achievements of Irish artists and craftsmen during the last dozen centuries or so. They can reflect not only the changes in art styles throughout this period, but also--through individual characteristics and the accompanying figures and objects--the changing theology down the years." - From the Introduction Throughout Irish history artists have captured the Crucifixion using a variety of mediums: on crosses, in stained glass, on tombstones, sculptures, and paintings. Photographs of fifty such depictions of the Crucifixion (46 in black-and-white and 4 in color) ranging from the year 800 CE to the present, along with interpretive commentary, show the development of this image and the theology surrounding it in Ireland. A perfect book for contemplation during the Lenten season.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0819218154
• ISBN13: 9780819218155
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.3" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

An excellent resource

The Crucifixion in Irish Art presents 50 examples, from 800AD to the 20th century. A full page photograph faces a single page of text, for each. Most are black and white photographs with four or five color plates depicting stained glass representations and contemporary oils. Yet so much in such a small book! The introduction places the art works in Irish history from the Celts on to today. The development of the crucifix as art is emphasized, as one is compared with the following. It was my good luck to stumble on this volume in Ireland and it inspired much of my trip as I plugged through fields, disturbing cattle, to locate some of the original crucifixes in the book.