Celtic Cross Art Exhibit

Was March 12 - April 27, 2008

Walker's Celtic Jewelry
 Fairport NY

In May 2009 Walkers Celtic Jewelry will move to
140 Packets Landing at the corner of South Main Street, Fairport, NY

The ringed cross has been an distinctively Celtic variation of the symbol of Christ�s victory over death since ancient time in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and those parts of the British Isles that were under the influence of the early Celtic Church. From the 5^th century onward, ring or wheel-headed crosses were carved in stone as monuments and have been portrayed in paintings, jewelry and sculpture in many forms down to the present time.

Many of the most famous High Crosses survive in the form of large scale stone monuments from 8^th to 10^th century Ireland. By the 12^th century it is believed that the style of the ringed cross had already taken on significance as a reference to something respectably old and dignified. Crosses made in the later medieval period were deliberately archaic for the purpose of connecting their patrons to the distant past and impressing the audience with a sense of well established cultural heritage and lineage to days of saints and heroes.

Because this style of cross along with the style of ornament we call Celtic art has for so long been seen as something very old, the similarity between the ringed cross and pre-Christian wheel and sun symbols has resulted in a folklore that sees the Celtic Cross as having pagan origins. Henry O'Neill, in his 1857 book Illustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland writes, "I think that ancient Irish art was pagan, and was continued during the Christian period, just as the peculiar form of the Irish cross is pagan, or as the names of the months, or of the days of the week are pagan; these, and a great deal more of paganism, having continued, owing to the tenacity with which a people retain their general habits and ideas."

O'Neill was not himself pagan, as much of his writing contains a Christian piety that would refute such a suggestion. Rather he is expressing pride in a noble antiquity for Irish art. During the 19th century Celtic Revival, much was said and written about native cultural survivals from pre-Christian times. "Pre-Christian" would also be pre-Norman and pre-English domination. It must be remembered that at this time Ireland was reinventing itself. The trauma of famine and foreign rule was fresh. Many ancient Gaelic myths and legends were revived to serve the cause of a renewed sense of national identity and pride in the past.

O�Neill was himself an important player in the nineteenth century Celtic Revival. An exhibition in Dublin in 1853 presented several casts of medieval High Crosses to the Irish public. Prior to this time the ringed cross had fallen out of use and was largely neglected. Fewer than 50 examples survived in Ireland, most of those in damaged condition. The exhibition and O�Neill�s publication several years afterwards were the beginnings of the present rediscovery of this exciting and mysterious symbol of Celtic heritage. By the 20^th century the ringed cross had become a popular symbol not only in Ireland, Scotland and the other Celtic nations, but had also been exported to the Celtic Diaspora throughout the world.

The term Celtic Cross is itself considered an obsolete and inexact description of medieval forms of the ringed cross, that is avoided by today�s art historians and archaeologists. It is, however, absolutely appropriate name for modern expressions of the form of the ringed cross for the past 150 years. This exhibit is presented as a celebration of this ancient symbol as it has been portrayed through illustration and sculpture and crafts in modern times.

The question of meaning, especially of the circle, has been a focus of fascination or contemplation for many. Various explanations for the ring attribute "eternity" symbolism to the never-ending circle, or describe it as a form of halo. Some see an evolution from the "Chi Rho" monogram of Christ in a wreath as a prototype. The Egyptian Ankh hieroglyph for "life", which is a circle above a Tau cross, was adopted by early Christians in Alexandria as a symbol of eternal life. The Ankh on a small pedestal meant permanent or enduring life in Egyptian and is very similar to a Celtic cross. Perhaps the most widely repeated story about the cross and circle tells of Saint Patrick preaching to the heathen Irish and drawing a cross through a circle that was inscribed on a Druidic standing stone.

In medieval times, most of the surviving examples of the ringed cross were public monuments or decorations of communal property such as alter books for the church or liturgical regalia. This was also the case for the earliest crosses of the Celtic Revival, but in more recent decades the trend has been increasingly to use the Celtic Cross as a more personal symbol of devotion, in the form of jewelry or as art for the home.

The Celtic Cross is often seen as an object from the distant past, which it certainly is. This exhibit hopes to demonstrate that the Celtic Cross is also a symbol legitimately inherited through the stewardship of more recent generations and that is being continuously explored and creatively fashioned for the faithful of the present and the future.

Steve Walker and Ed Rooney with Rooney's artwork