List of Crucifixion Plaques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a complete list of the nine surviving Early Medieval Irish Crucifixion plaques, although many more would have been produced. Eight are extant and one is known from a 19th-century watercolour reproduction. Four have an established provenance; the others are grouped based on figurative similarities to these known examples. It may be that the examples in each group were produced by separate workshops.
Crucifixion plaques are a rare example of figurative in early Irish art. Their iconography and form seems to be influenced by The earlier illuminated manuscripts and stone sculpture.[1] The Rinnegan Plaque is dated to c. 700 AD and is 21 cm (8.3 in) in height, making it much larger and pre-dating the other examples by over three centuries, and is the finest of the group. Based on their artistic style and iconography, archaeologists date the other plaques to within the late 10th and early 12th centuries. The other plaques are square-shaped and of a similar size (c. 9 cm (3.5 in) x 9 cm (3.5 in)), and made of cast bronze or copper alloy.[2] They are all made using openwork with the exception of the Lismore Plaque.
In 1980, the archaeologist Peter Harbison identified the then-known six plaques as a distinct type. He divided them into the Clonmacnoise (in County Offaly and Dungannon, County Tyrone groups, based on their find-spots, iconography and form, including the pose of the figures and decoration of the borders.[3] Harbison believes that, except for the c. 700 AD Rinnegan plaque, they all dated to c. 1100 AD.[4]
Since Harbison's publication, the Dungannon Plaque is now localised to Tynan, County Armagh, near the find-spot of a recently found plaque from Anketell, County Monaghan, while another example is now thought to originate from Lismore, County Waterford. Based on these findings, the archaeologist Griffin Murray further divided the plaques into the "Tynan", "Clonmacnoise", "Klllalon" (or "Kells") groups and "others" (i.e. those unlocalised either by find-spot or style and the very early and geographically distinct Rinnegan Plaque).[5]
| Work | Title | Date | Find spot | Material | Height | Harbison number | Murray Grouping | Current location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Rinnegan Crucifixion Plaque | c. 700AD[6] | Rinnagan, near Athlone, County Westmeath | Bronze | 21 cm (8.3 in) | n/a | n/a | National Museum of Ireland (NMI), Dublin |
 |
Clonmacnoise Crucifixion Plaque | 10th century[7] | Clonmacnoise monastery, County Offaly | Bronze, gilt openwork, repoussé[8] | 8.0 cm (3.1 in) | 2[9] | Clonmacnoise[10] | NMI |
 |
Lismore Crucifixion Plaque | c. 1090—1113[11] | Lismore, County Waterford | brass[12] | 7.6 cm (3.0 in) | 4[13] | Killalon[14] | NMI |
| Tynan Crucifixion Plaque | c. 1100[15] | Tynan, County Armagh | Bronze[16] | 8.2 cm (3.2 in) | Tynan[10] | NMI | ||
 |
Anketell Crucifixion Plaque | c. 1110[17] | Emyvale, County Monaghan | gunmetal[12] | 8.0 cm (3.1 in) | 5[18] | Tynan[10] | NMI |
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Killaloe Crucifixion Plaque | 11th century[19] | Killaloe, County Clare | leaded gunmetal[12] | 7.3 cm (2.9 in) | 3[20] | Killalon[10] | NMI |
 |
Academy Crucifixion Plaque | ? | Unlocalised[21] | brass[12] | 7.2 cm (2.8 in) | Killalon[10] | NMI | |
 |
Kells Crucifixion Plaque | 11th or 12th century | Kells, County Meath | brass[12] | 8.2 cm (3.2 in) | 6[22] | Killalon[14] | British Museum, London[23] |
 |
Mayo Crucifixion Plaque | ? | County Mayo | ? | 8.5 cm (3.3 in)?[24] | 1[25] | Clonmacnoise[10] | Lost[26] |
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