St John's Cross

St John's Cross.

The Isle of Iona founded by St. Columba from Ireland, occupied a key position between Pictland and Northumbria on the one hand and Ireland on the other. The community of Iona had close links with Ireland in the 8th century and it is known to have been the meeting point of different artistic traditions. St. John's Cross, which has the widest span (almost 7 feet, 3 inches.) of any early cross in Britain, was originally without a ring and because of structural weakness, the ring was added in later. The cross is 17 feet tall and is from the 8th century.

The panels of serpent and boss designs and "bird's nest" bosses, and spiral work is very similar to that on the Chi-Rho page in the Book of Kells. St. John Cross represents rebirth in Christ. The "bird's nest" symbolizes birth and the serpents represent rebirth since the snake sheds its old skin.

McHarp products are made of clay/ceramic. All McHarp artwork and crosses are hand-crafted and inspired by designs from antiquity. Each piece, based on an actual artifact or standing stone in the Celtic world, is accompanied by a tag in which the time period and culture are described.

Isle of Iona, Scotland

15" x 8"

Due to the hand casting and proprietary staining process, each of my plaques is unique. Each cross comes with a hanger embedded in the stone. The cross comes with a descriptive tag describing the original stone, explanation of the design or information on where the cross is located.

Handmade products – Images may vary slightly from actual products.