This handsome volume is the fruit of a two-day conference held at Princeton University in 1997, under the auspices of the Index of Christian Art. Its seventeen contributions, by scholars from Belgium, England, Ireland, the Netherlands and the USA, have as their central theme the placing of medieval Irish art in its European context. The range of subjects covered might seem, at least at a glance, no more than the usual suspects for a fairly populist collection: sheela-na-gigs, the Book of Kells, monsters, "Sex, Symbol ... and Round Towers"(!). In fact it is these old favourites which most benefit from a reassessment in terms of their wider relations--eschewing the "backward-look" to prehistoric origins in favour of consideration of such works in their wider Christian context, and in terms of their relationships to the Romanesque and Gothic (see 4 & 7). Colum Hourihane"s introduction and preface (3-8)--initially at least--might also seem to convey a disarming impression of populism. Academic readers will probably be unexcited by facts such as that the conference and the book are "the first" exclusively concerned with Irish Art to arise from Princeton (3), indeed in the USA (repeated twice on p. 4), and the "first" concerned with Irish Art and Europe (8). They also will know who pays the piper, and should persist beyond this part of the introduction, as Hourihane then proceeds to put down some very important intellectual markers. One can only agree with Hourihane that a focus on the external and Christian contexts of medieval Irish art is overdue. He highlights the high crosses as a pivotal subject for re-assessment in terms of their wider parallels. His discussion of Cormac's Chapel at Cashel also puts down a useful anchor-point for future work in exploring the transition from early to later medieval Irish art. The strength of the volume lies in the faithfulness of most of the contributors to Hourihane's strong vision, and in the synergy which emerges between contributors in their identification of the layers of interpretation which can be made of local and Biblical themes when artworks interact with a rich textual tradition.
The individual contributions open with an archaeological study of Irish pilgrimage that picks up on the themes highlighted by Hourihane. Dorothy Hoogland Verkerk ("Pilgrimage ad Limina Apostolorum in Rome: Irish Crosses and Early Christian Sarcophagi") presents a detailed case for the influence of images from Rome pilgrimage upon the iconography of Irish high crosses. This stimulating paper takes on some difficult questions. Not content to take the "safe" route of studying high-medieval pilgrimage as a separate matter from early medieval notions of peregrinatio, Verkerk bravely sets out to trace the outcome of what Kathleen Hughes termed the "shift from exile to destination" in Irish pilgrimage. She takes a refreshingly irreverent approach to the comparisons made between high-crosses and sarcophagi, with a clear-headed view of the often woolly chronology of such comparisons, proposing that only a wider approach to the context of exchanges between Ireland and Rome will reveal the nature of the relationship. (9) This paper proves that the evidence of such exchange is copious enough to allow us to sketch such a wider background. There are some unevennesses of treatment in this paper. The myth of Coptic influence on Irish art is once again happily consigned to the dustbin, but Plummer's misguided interest in solar cults (n. 74) is surprisingly resurrected. The discussion of references to sheep (14) perhaps overlooks the importance and prevalence of "flock" imagery in monastic literature. Mary Nolan's stimulating, but often ahistorical, study of Irish pilgrimage appears to be unhelpfully used as a guide to the chronology of saints. (11) A little more editing may have helped here, but there is much fresh thought to enjoy in this fine contribution.
The next few papers continue the theme of taking a new look at what would seem well-worked material. Roger Stalley ("Sex, Symbol and Myth: Some Observations on the Round Towers") is refreshingly frank concerning the seeming consensus on the function of round towers. He provides us with an imaginative and useful taxonomy for further study, as a well as a literature survey that embraces pre-modern as well as modern theorists--though in his discussion of antiquarian perspectives I was surprised to find no reference to the work of Joep Leersen. Cormac Bourke ("The Book of Kells: New Light on the Temptation Scene") returns to an old favourite of insular art scholars, the judgement scene from folio 202v of the Book of Kells. By taking a new look at the perspective of the scene he recovers from the foreground of the scene a table, rather than a shrine or reliquary, and the representation of a complex theology of the Lenten fast. This and Jane Hawkes"s paper ("An Iconography of Identity? The Cross-Head from Mayo Abbey"), later in the volume, explore the question of multiple narratives being read into images which most often attract singular explanations.
A much wider canvas is taken by Peter Harbison ("The Otherness of Irish Art in the Twelfth Century") in his survey of the twelfth century. Harbison seems at times unnecessarily judgemental on the deficiencies of architecture before the Romanesque era, and of manuscript art after the Romanesque. As in Verkerk"s study, pilgrimage is used as a vehicle for a diffusionist model to explain perceived departures from evolutionary trajectories.
Two papers follow that consider the evolving theological background of scriptural art. Colum Hourihane's richly detailed study "De Camino Ignis: The Iconography of the Three Children in the Fiery Furnace" explores one popular theme for which there is a copious and early tradition, tracing the evolution of the scene from its very early origins to its treatment in medieval Irish art. The range of data available allows Hourihane to identify trends within the evolution of this motif, both in early Christian iconography in general, and within its Irish use. Kees Veelenturf ("Irish High Crosses and Continental Art") takes a more theory-laden approach, presenting a range of observations on the layers of meaning in eschatological iconography in Irish biblical art. Much of this material is already surveyed in detail in his book Die Bra/tha: Eschatological Theophanies and Irish High Crosses (Amsterdam, 1997), and Veelenturf allows himself to expand here on some individual points with greater impact. His analysis of the Crucifixion panel in St Gall Stiftsbibliothek Ms. 51 (87) inspires the view that "This example...shows that images cannot simply be viewed as a texts, as meaningful words in a syntactical order, since they have their own ways of conveying meaning." This is a welcome observation from a scholar who has engaged with both theory and data in its theological context and who rightly does not see the need to give in to the overwhelming theoretical trend to exclusively linguistic and grammatical analogy for the study of visual communication.
Maggie McEnchroe Williams ("Constructing the Market Cross at Tuam: The Role of Cultural Patriotism in Study of Irish High Crosses") presents a useful critique of the reconstruction of a medieval artefact against a backdrop of evolving knowledge of the middle ages in Victorian and Edwardian Ireland. More detailed study of this type is needed, though this paper did seem a little out of step with the theme of this volume.
Susanne McNab"s contribution, "Celtic Antecedents of the Treatment of the Human Figure in Irish Art", along with that of Emanuelle Pirotte ("Ornament and Script in Early Medieval Insular and Continental Manuscripts"), later in the volume, attempts to understand the relationship of Irish iconography to mentalities rather than simply considering artistic continuities. Mildred Budny, "Deciphering the Art of Interlace" brings a trenchant pen to the students of another cliched subject, Celtic interlace. It is to be hoped that her forthright dismissal of George Bain, Aidan Meehan, et al., as authorities on the construction of interlace (196)--rarely so forcefully expressed--will find its mark in the work of non-specialists. Her comments (197) on textual analogues of interlace and the idea of patterned constructions make important distinctions between direct mutual influence and the impact of a shared mindset between the creators of art and literature.
Susan Youngs's "'From Ireland Coming': Fine Irish Metalwork from the Medway, Kent, England", discusses one aspect of her important recent work in provenancing and dating the finds of "Irish" metalwork in Britain: in this case she considers a harness mount from Cuxton. She also appends a useful catalogue of such mounts from England (254-58). Niamh Whitfield"s "The 'Tara' Brooch: an Irish emblem of Status in its European Context" takes on a well-known work to consider it now, not in its local, but its European context. As is usual with Whitfield's work, there is a fine and critical use of historical sources in sketching the background against which the penannular form gave way to the "pseudo-penannular form", exemplified by the Tara Brooch. She then goes on to advance a strong thesis: that the closure of the gap was not, as Stevenson argued, a development to accommodate Christian symbolism, but a change under the influence of the Anglo-Saxon disc-brooch. Some of the evidence adduced for this thesis is based on Stevick's geometric observations, but on the basis of direct comparisons rather than the latter's more controversial numerical theories. The evolutionary typology Whitfield sets up is plausible, especially in its assertion that the later brooches "revert to the illusion of penannularity". (237) Raghnall O/ Floinn"s study "Goldsmiths" Work in Ireland, 1200-1400" is similarly original and forceful in its assertion of the anachronism of modern categorisation; proposing, rather, that goldsmiths (and mutatis mutandis other smiths) were specialists whose works ranged over a wide range of forms.
Catherine Karkov"s "Sheela-na-gigs and Unruly Women: Images of Land and Gender in Medieval Ireland" is a lively and wide-ranging contribution on a most controversial subject. As Karkov rightly notes, the Sheela-na-Gig is very much a continental image that, in the popular conception, has become appropriated to perceived Irish origin. As well as a detailed survey of the--entirely high-medieval--context of these images, with some interesting observations, in particular, upon their possibly Marian associations, she also provides a lucid commentary upon early modern and modern uses of the motif as a metaphor for unruly womanhood. There are, however, some bemusing phrases in this paper. Lisa Bitel did indeed say that "unsatisfied longing could make a woman turn ugly"; but, on the basis of Karkov"s quotation, one might be forgiven for thinking she meant it in other than only a pseudo-historical context. Perhaps the figure from Clonmacnois (315) is, in general terms, "displaying its rear end", as distinct from its genitalia, but such coy terminology perhaps does not help the reader decipher a rather difficult image--which is not helped by the indistinct quality of the reproduction. Heather King's "Late Medieval Irish Crosses and their European Background" is a succinct, but rich survey of the state of the question concerning late- and post-medieval high crosses (note: the range of this paper is ca. 1200-1700). Building upon her own earlier studies in this, as she notes, otherwise largely neglected field, King outlines the range of potential evidence for interpreting these crosses: on the one hand, that concerning the origins for the fashion, from contemporary European trends in cross iconography (again, like the Irish crosses, having undergone little systematic study); and on the other hand, that concerning the local context, from the copious epigraphic evidence for patron networks.
The volume is in general carefully edited and produced. The only substantial criticism I would make would be of the quality of the reproductions. In a number of cases the reproductions are very indistinct and there are no colour reproductions apart from the magnificent cover (is this why the volume comes shrink-wrapped?). But this is mostly not a major problem in an art-historical volume which one nonetheless reads primarily for the quality of the text. The text itself is largely free from error, though there is some confusion over the use of Irish accents in Verkerk's paper (e.g. Sena\n for Sena/n, p. 26--where Nick Aitchison has also confusingly acquired a new initial); in Karkov's article the title Banshenchas is mis-spelt throughout (even in the titles of cited works in note 9).
In conclusion, the contributors to this volume were asked to consider the questions both of the wider European relations of Irish art, and of the degree to which Irish art maintained a distinct identity in this environment. If the latter theme was included as a filip to a patriotic audience, reared on an older, isolationist, view of Irish culture, it should be noted that the strength and vibrancy of the medieval Irish reception of medieval culture that emerges from these studies renders the question of distinct identity largely redundant. This is an important volume in the history of the study of insular art. If one of the particular contributions made by the Index of Christian Art is to demonstrate to a wider audience the importance of eschewing a mostly nativist interpretation of medieval iconography in favour of one which embraces the sweep from antiquity into the Romanesque and Gothic, and an international range of sources, one can only say it is a very welcome contribution.