From Ireland Coming: Irish Art from the Early Christian to the Late Gothic Period and Its European Context ed. by Colum Hourihane
Joanne Findon
REVIEWS117 This volume is an essential reference on Glastonbury and KingArthur, those Arthurian scholars small libraries rhat do not subscribe to Literature (where many of the articles originated) will find it a major addition their collections. Even for large libraries, convenience this anthology justifies its purchase. Glastonburystudies are alive well, provides ample testimony continuing fascination with locale. STEPHEN STALLCUP University ofNorth Carolina, Greensboro COLUM HOURiHANE, ed., From Irebnd Coming: IrishArtfrom Early Christian Late Gothic PeriodandIts European Context. Index ofChristian Art/ Princeton Press, 2001. Pp. xviii, 356. isbn: o—691-08825-x. $35. The contributions important volume, most ofwhich were presented at 1999 conference, locate Irish art-historical heritagewithin broad context art culture rarher than maintaining isolationist Insular view. begins Dorothy Hoogland Verkerk's fascinating discussion visual parallels between figurai narrative scenes high crosses carvings early sarcophagi in Rome. delegation Rome theyear631 remarked onwhat theyhad 'seen' theirvisir; ongoingIrish pilgrimages likely resulted artistic influence artists, although sarcophagus motifs adapted cultural context. In another study crosses, Colum Hourihane notes how motifofthe three children fiery furnace (from Book ofDaniel) depicted later Carolingian manuscripts painting stress protecting wings ofthe angelic figure as symbolic ofsalvation. Kees Veelenturfsimilarly argues that image Saints Paul Anthony receiving bread from raven owes much iconography ofearly Rome, including sarcophagi. Jane Hawkcs suggests across-head Mayo Abbeywith interlace andstanding shows affinities both Gaul Northumbria. Roger Stalley continues interest connections his round towers, relating them cylindrical bell towers oftwelfth-century France Italy. Adapted monasticsetting, theywere, heconcludes, tall enough bells be heard over distance, thus drawing rural community together. Several shed new light familiar objects. Cormac Bourke reinterprets Temptation ofChrist scene Kells, reading lower panel empty table flanked by monastery's fasting monks, tracing models Northumbrian Roman art. Mildred Budny's close analysis places ofWestern manuscript design. NiamhWhitfield reassesses dieTara brooch design purpose brooches Germanic, Anglo-Saxon even Byzantine origin, pointing out rravel Europe blossomed sixth century, die encountered more foreign examples metalwork. On other hand, Emmanuelle Pirones ll8ARTHURIANA compellingdiscussion ofilluminated Gospel books distance Continental models: rhe newly-literate andAnglo-Saxons, she insists, Latin Scriptures exotic, mystically charged webs signs celebrated 'beyond all words, central mysteryofdieWord' (279). Susan Youngss detailed gilt-bronze mount found Kent enlarges our understanding ofViking trade ninth tendi centuries. With hisdiscussionofRomanesque art, Peter Harbisonventures into relatively uncharted territory ofpost-conquest Although Cormac's Chapel now recognized earliest example Romanesque style Ireland, Harbison concludes while borrowing some features, twelfth-century adaptations metal croziers shrines remained distinctively tied older Celtic models. Tessa Garten's human animal heads sculpture reaches similar conclusions: adopted style, but infused Viking features. Susanne McNab stresses thelongevityofancient motifslike non-realistic interlacedhuman figures, serpents disembodied also extends periods. Raghnall Ó Floinn examines metalwork, particularly reliquaries seals, after Norman conquest. Heather King's fifteenth- sixteenth-century stone demonstrates importance ofEuropean influences ofthis period. Maggie McEnchroc Williams's article Market Cross atTuam...
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