Reading Pictures of Stone

High Cross

This shows an illustration of a high cross named the Cross of Muredach in Co. Louth.

Courtesy of Notes on Irish Architecture 1875

High Cross
Courtesy of Notes on Irish Architecture 1875

High Cross

This shows an illustration of a high cross named the Cross of Muredach in Co. Louth.

Courtesy of Notes on Irish Architecture 1875

Enlarge image

As well as learning to illustrate the scriptures on vellum and parchment some students in the time of Christian Ireland learned to draw on stone. Would you have liked to learn to use a chisel to cut pictures in stone? Many beautiful drawings of stone were made on high crosses from about the 7th Century. They told the stories of the Bible in pictures so that people who could not read would understand.