Kells South Cross - West Face, Kells, Co. Meath, Ireland

Kells Monastery, founded by St. Collmcille, became a great center of Christian learning and instruction. The south cross was created in the early ninth century and is 11 feet high. An inscription on the east base translates: The Cross of Patrick and Columba. The two men with intricately intertwined limbs and bodies at the bottom of the shaft shows the custom of Irish storytellers in which they sit facing each other with their legs intertwined and pull their beards as a sign that what they were saying was true and accurate. In the Crucifixion scene there is the sponge-bearer on the right and the spear-bearer on the left. Above each of Christ's arms is a seated person; personified as the sun and the moon. Sol holds a torch and has a rayed disk above his head. Luna has a plain moon disk above her head. On the head of the cross is Christ in majesty. Surrounding Christ are the Four Evangelists in the guise of their symbols, each holding his gospel. The winged lion for Mark, the winged calf for Luke, the Eagle for John and the Man-Angel for Matthew, holding aloft the Lamb in a wreath.

17" x 7" : Cast Stone, Celtic Art Collection, Made in the U.S.A.