DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.56731#0042
15. THE RISE OF MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE: THE RUTHWELL CROSS
With the exception of the illuminated manuscripts, the stone crosses are the most splendid
artistic relics of the Anglo-Saxon Church. Those from Ruthwell and Bewcastle are amongst the
earliest and date from after the Synod of Whitby about the end of the seventh century, when the
kingdom of Northumbria became a centre of Christian culture and learning.
No other stone monuments on this scale were erected in Europe at that time, and the origin
of these crosses has never been satisfactorily explained. The ornaments (see 18) and figures betray
Mediterranean origin and reflect the Anglo-Saxon renaissance, after the coming of Christianity.
But the Mediterranean models used by the insular artists were small objects, such as ivories. The
crosses must have developed through local traditions, influenced perhaps by Romano-British
monuments which survived the Saxon invasion. They might also have been a Christian counter-
part to the crude megalithic monuments of prehistoric times which may still have been in use
when the missionaries came to these islands.
Their purpose is obscure. We know that the missionaries put up wooden crosses where they
preached, and Oswald of Northumbria raised a wooden cross as a standard before the battle of
Heavenfield (a.d. 635). The earliest stone crosses may have been made to replace these improvised
memorials. The majority, however, appear to be tombstones; there is no proof of their having
served at that time as boundary or market crosses.
I, 2. Ruthwell Cross. Last quarter of the seventh century. Ruthwell Church, Dumfries.
The cross, 17 ft. 4 in. high, is made of local red sandstone. On the borders are carved runic
inscriptions which correspond to a poem, “The Vision of the Cross”, found in a late tenth-century
manuscript. In the poem the cross says: “Then the young man, who was God almighty, stripped
himself strong and steadfast. Bold in the sight of many he mounted the high cross when he would
redeem mankind. I trembled when he clasped me, yet I durst not bow to the ground or fall to
the lap of earth.”
The prototypes of the principal scenes are to be found in the arts of the Eastern Mediterranean
but we cannot determine either the centre from which they came or the manner of their arrival.
The Ruthwell Cross may have had immediate predecessors (see 17), but it is the greatest surviving
example of “Greek” Christian art in English monumental sculpture.
5. Christ and Mary Magdalen. Ruthwell Cross.
Nowhere is the artist’s gift for monumental sculpture more apparent than in this relief. He
followed his model closely—it was of a type similar to the one used by Syrian painters for an
analogous subject (see a)-—but he gave his work the dignity of a monument. Christ is seen from
the front with Mary Magdalen at his feet in profile, almost at right angles. The soft curves of her
body and hair form the base from which the figure of Christ rises.
a. Christ healing the woman with an issue of blood. Miniature. Sixth century. Paris, Bibl. Nat.
MS. Syr. 33, fol. 5V.
In Christian Syriac manuscripts, Greek compositions were transformed into impressively
realistic illustrations. Syrian monks had their own monastery in Rome, and the influence of their
art is frequently found in Italian works of the “Dark Ages.”
4. Christ healing the Blind Man. Ruthwell Cross.
Christ is standing on the left. In his right hand he seems originally to have held a wand
with which he touched the blind man’s eye.
5. The Annunciation. Ruthwell Cross.
Rarely has English sculpture produced a work of such serenity. The design is more sophisti-
cated than its Eastern prototype (see b}. The Virgin is leaning against the stone border, her right
arm raised whilst the angel is shown with a sweeping movement, his wing covering the background
“architecture.” There is depth and shadow in the centre where the two figures meet, whereas
light plays on the raised relief on either side. A similar use of light and shade is made in the relief
of St. John and the Eagle (see 16, 1). Unfortunately the scene is badly damaged.
b. The Annunciation. Armenian Miniature. Tenth century (a.d. 989) Etchmiadzin, Patriarchal
Library 229 (now State Repository of MSS., Erivan).
Armenians are occasionally mentioned in the West, and some motives in early Irish art are
believed to be of Armenian origin. It is generally recognized that the architecture of the Latin
West after a.d. 1000 owes some of its characteristic features to the churches of Eastern Christianity.
The Etchmiadzin “Annunciation” repeats an earlier type.
a
With the exception of the illuminated manuscripts, the stone crosses are the most splendid
artistic relics of the Anglo-Saxon Church. Those from Ruthwell and Bewcastle are amongst the
earliest and date from after the Synod of Whitby about the end of the seventh century, when the
kingdom of Northumbria became a centre of Christian culture and learning.
No other stone monuments on this scale were erected in Europe at that time, and the origin
of these crosses has never been satisfactorily explained. The ornaments (see 18) and figures betray
Mediterranean origin and reflect the Anglo-Saxon renaissance, after the coming of Christianity.
But the Mediterranean models used by the insular artists were small objects, such as ivories. The
crosses must have developed through local traditions, influenced perhaps by Romano-British
monuments which survived the Saxon invasion. They might also have been a Christian counter-
part to the crude megalithic monuments of prehistoric times which may still have been in use
when the missionaries came to these islands.
Their purpose is obscure. We know that the missionaries put up wooden crosses where they
preached, and Oswald of Northumbria raised a wooden cross as a standard before the battle of
Heavenfield (a.d. 635). The earliest stone crosses may have been made to replace these improvised
memorials. The majority, however, appear to be tombstones; there is no proof of their having
served at that time as boundary or market crosses.
I, 2. Ruthwell Cross. Last quarter of the seventh century. Ruthwell Church, Dumfries.
The cross, 17 ft. 4 in. high, is made of local red sandstone. On the borders are carved runic
inscriptions which correspond to a poem, “The Vision of the Cross”, found in a late tenth-century
manuscript. In the poem the cross says: “Then the young man, who was God almighty, stripped
himself strong and steadfast. Bold in the sight of many he mounted the high cross when he would
redeem mankind. I trembled when he clasped me, yet I durst not bow to the ground or fall to
the lap of earth.”
The prototypes of the principal scenes are to be found in the arts of the Eastern Mediterranean
but we cannot determine either the centre from which they came or the manner of their arrival.
The Ruthwell Cross may have had immediate predecessors (see 17), but it is the greatest surviving
example of “Greek” Christian art in English monumental sculpture.
5. Christ and Mary Magdalen. Ruthwell Cross.
Nowhere is the artist’s gift for monumental sculpture more apparent than in this relief. He
followed his model closely—it was of a type similar to the one used by Syrian painters for an
analogous subject (see a)-—but he gave his work the dignity of a monument. Christ is seen from
the front with Mary Magdalen at his feet in profile, almost at right angles. The soft curves of her
body and hair form the base from which the figure of Christ rises.
a. Christ healing the woman with an issue of blood. Miniature. Sixth century. Paris, Bibl. Nat.
MS. Syr. 33, fol. 5V.
In Christian Syriac manuscripts, Greek compositions were transformed into impressively
realistic illustrations. Syrian monks had their own monastery in Rome, and the influence of their
art is frequently found in Italian works of the “Dark Ages.”
4. Christ healing the Blind Man. Ruthwell Cross.
Christ is standing on the left. In his right hand he seems originally to have held a wand
with which he touched the blind man’s eye.
5. The Annunciation. Ruthwell Cross.
Rarely has English sculpture produced a work of such serenity. The design is more sophisti-
cated than its Eastern prototype (see b}. The Virgin is leaning against the stone border, her right
arm raised whilst the angel is shown with a sweeping movement, his wing covering the background
“architecture.” There is depth and shadow in the centre where the two figures meet, whereas
light plays on the raised relief on either side. A similar use of light and shade is made in the relief
of St. John and the Eagle (see 16, 1). Unfortunately the scene is badly damaged.
b. The Annunciation. Armenian Miniature. Tenth century (a.d. 989) Etchmiadzin, Patriarchal
Library 229 (now State Repository of MSS., Erivan).
Armenians are occasionally mentioned in the West, and some motives in early Irish art are
believed to be of Armenian origin. It is generally recognized that the architecture of the Latin
West after a.d. 1000 owes some of its characteristic features to the churches of Eastern Christianity.
The Etchmiadzin “Annunciation” repeats an earlier type.
a