Ruthwell Cross. Detail of cross shaft.

Description Ruthwell Cross. Detail of cross shaft.

Date 20/7/1896

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 747874

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of DF 896

Scope and Content Ruthwell Cross, Ruthwell Church, Dumfries & Galloway, showing detail of the front and side The Ruthwell Cross, an Anglican Cross with Latin and runic inscriptions, is the most important monument of its kind in Scotland. It stands in a purpose-built apse in Ruthwell Church near Annan on the Solway Firth, and probably dates from the early 8th century when the Anglicans established a bishopric at Whithorn. This photograph of the front and side of the cross was taken by Erskine Beveridge in 1896. The broad front face of the shaft bears a ladder-like grid of borders, each carved with Latin or runic inscriptions and each framing a sculptured panel. The large panel in the centre shows Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Christ, and the surrounding border contains the corresponding Biblical text in Latin (Luke 7:37-8). The panel beneath represents Jesus healing a blind man (John 9:1) with a fragment of the corresponding Biblical text, again in Latin, on the margin. The panel second from the top represents the Visitation, and shows the Virgin Mary meeting her cousin, Elizabeth. It is surrounded by a runic text, part of which can be understood to mean: 'Mary, mother of the Lord'. The side of the shaft is carved with vine scrolls, inhabited by birds and animals, and has runic-inscribed margins. In the early 8th century AD, the Anglicans were firmly in control of the kingdom of Northumbria, which stretched as far north as the Firth of Forth. The cross has been said to illustrate more perfectly than any other 'the intellectual background of Northumbrian Christianity' which it does in a series of words and pictures. The broad faces have panels of carved figures and marginal texts, mainly in Latin, which describe and illustrate the divinity and power of Christ. The animated scrolls and runes on the sides are related to the theme of Creation, and spell out a version of the Anglo-Saxon religious poem, 'The Dream of the Rood'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/747874

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap