Meigle
Architectural Fragment (Pictish)
Site Name Meigle
Classification Architectural Fragment (Pictish)
Alternative Name(s) Meigle Museum; Meigle Stones; Meigle No. 22
Canmore ID 30852
Site Number NO24SE 25.22
NGR NO 2872 4459
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/30852
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Meigle
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
Meigle 22, Perthshire, architectural panel
Measurements: H 0.82m, W 0.25m, D 0.09m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NO 2873 4460
Present location: Meigle Museum
Evidence for discovery: recorded by Stuart around 1850, either in the walls of the church destroyed in 1869 or in the churchyard wall.
Present condition: left-hand portion missing, wear or damage to face of human figure.
Description
This fragment is the right-hand end of a panel carved in relief on one face, which may have been part of a frieze or lintel within the original Pictish church. A plain flat-band moulding forms the top and right-hand border and may once have continued along the lower edge. Carved in low relief is a semi-human frontal figure with looped legs ending in fish tails, whose hands with well- defined fingers grasp fat tendrils of hair. Carved in higher relief are two beasts, one on either side of the human figure. To the left is a bear facing left with bared teeth and pronounced claws, while to the right is a panther lying with its head on its right foreleg, also with exaggerated claws.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: Stuart 1856, pl 132; ECMS pt 3, 329, 337; RCAHMS 1994, 102; Henderson & Henderson 2004, 78, 208-9.
Desk-based information compiled by A Richie 2019.
Publication Account (1964)
NO24SE 25.22 2872 4459.
No. 22 Slab: in the middle a triton, mermaid, or Celtic god with a double interlacing fish-tail. The figure holds long coils of hair: on either side a ?bear and a ?dog.
S Cruden 1964.
Note (1990)
NO24SE 25.22 2872 4459. A rectangular panel measuring 0.82m in length, 0.25m in height and up to 0.09m in thickness bears three figures in high relief: to the left, a beast with carefully-executed head and feet; in the centre, a figure, possibly horned, clasping coils of hair or serpents, and with interlaced fish-tailed legs. The figure has been variously interpreted as the Celtic deity Cernunnos or simply as a dimensional rendering of similar figures in the Book of Kells. If the figure grasps serpents, it may be a version of the image of the man between animals common in European art and frequently represented in Insular manuscripts and metalwork. To the right, there is an animal in repose, carved as if seen from above, with its head resting on its front paws. This is likely to have been an architectural piece, and its excellent preservation suggests use inside a building.
Information from RCAHMS (JNGR) 1990.
