DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47496#0214
194 EARLY CHRISTIAN ART IN IRELAND.
until the ninth century the designs upon the sepulchral slabs of
Ireland were incised upon the surface of the stone.
The form of the Irish cross being that of a Greek cross with
arms projecting outside the circle, and shaft elongated, is a
curious combination of the Greek and Latin cross, and seems
symbolic of the whole subject of Irish ecclesiastical Art, which
from its very beginning shows Byzantine and Latin elements
commingled. So also in the iconography of Irish sculptured
monuments, we have seen how in the system of representation of
Biblical scenes, types and anti-types were drawn alternately from
the Byzantine and Latin guides, text-books, and Bibles of the
Poor.
Finally, as regards the history of the builder’s art in Ireland,
of which we have only been enabled to osfer a mere outline in
this work, we can only repeat that which we have stated else-
where, that the special interest of its study lies, not in that it
possessed any singular antiquity or beauty as compared with
works of ancient Art in other countries, but rather that owing to
many circumstances in the history of the country, the remains of
a great number of monuments belonging to the period between
the fifth and the twelfth centuries of the Christian era, have
survived, untouched by the hand either of the restorer or of the
destroyer; and that in them, when arranged in consecutive series,
we can trace the development from an early and rude beginning
to a very beautiful result, and watch the dovetailing, as it were, of
one style into another, till an Irish form of Romanesque archi-
tecture grew into perfection. The form of the Irish church
points to an original type that has almost disappeared elsewhere
—that of the Shrine or Ark, not of the Basilica.
It has been the writer’s object throughout this book, while
tracing the foreign inssuences by which the arts were modified in
this country, to accentuate its native peculiarities, and indicate
such qualities in the work as, if studied in reverence, might sub-
serve to a further development in the same lines. The revival os
until the ninth century the designs upon the sepulchral slabs of
Ireland were incised upon the surface of the stone.
The form of the Irish cross being that of a Greek cross with
arms projecting outside the circle, and shaft elongated, is a
curious combination of the Greek and Latin cross, and seems
symbolic of the whole subject of Irish ecclesiastical Art, which
from its very beginning shows Byzantine and Latin elements
commingled. So also in the iconography of Irish sculptured
monuments, we have seen how in the system of representation of
Biblical scenes, types and anti-types were drawn alternately from
the Byzantine and Latin guides, text-books, and Bibles of the
Poor.
Finally, as regards the history of the builder’s art in Ireland,
of which we have only been enabled to osfer a mere outline in
this work, we can only repeat that which we have stated else-
where, that the special interest of its study lies, not in that it
possessed any singular antiquity or beauty as compared with
works of ancient Art in other countries, but rather that owing to
many circumstances in the history of the country, the remains of
a great number of monuments belonging to the period between
the fifth and the twelfth centuries of the Christian era, have
survived, untouched by the hand either of the restorer or of the
destroyer; and that in them, when arranged in consecutive series,
we can trace the development from an early and rude beginning
to a very beautiful result, and watch the dovetailing, as it were, of
one style into another, till an Irish form of Romanesque archi-
tecture grew into perfection. The form of the Irish church
points to an original type that has almost disappeared elsewhere
—that of the Shrine or Ark, not of the Basilica.
It has been the writer’s object throughout this book, while
tracing the foreign inssuences by which the arts were modified in
this country, to accentuate its native peculiarities, and indicate
such qualities in the work as, if studied in reverence, might sub-
serve to a further development in the same lines. The revival os