Irish monk with bell and staff
Type:
Sculptures
Date:
Eighth to tenth centuries
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Ireland
Medium:
Stone
Description:
A ruined church on White Island (Ireland) now displays seven standing figures and one head in high relief. They were probably carved between the eighth and tenth centuries; some were reused as building stones in a later church, of which only a twelfth-century portal remains. The original function of the carved figures is unclear. Some have sockets on top, suggesting that they may have supported a pulpit or other church furnishing. One of the largest figures, now third from the left, depicts a bearded cleric or monk; he holds a curved staff and a bell. Irish abbots used hand-bells made of bronze, or iron lined with bronze, to summon monks to prayer. If a bell became associated with a particular individual, it might attain the status of a relic, be enclosed in an ornamented shrine, and be buried with its user.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
5,
6,
7
Repository and Online Resources:
• Read about early medieval Irish hand-bells here.
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons; Jim Dempsey
