Crucifixion plaque

Crucifixion plaques are a type of Irish Early Medieval metal sculpture consisting of a central panel of the still alive but crucified Jesus, surrounded by four ancillary panels. The lower quadrants show Stephaton and Longinus (the lance and sponge bearers) and two hovering attendant angels in the upper quadrants. The frames have cavities that once held nails or rivets, indicating that the plaques were intended as attachments to larger ecclesiastical objects, perhaps book shrines, processional crosses or altarpieces.

Alongside high crosses, the plaques are among the earliest known examples of both figuration and representation of the Crucifixion in Insular art. Eight of the nine known examples survive, although many more would have been produced. All were found in Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries; presumably they would have been hidden by Irish clerics from Viking or Norman invaders. They are all made from cast bronze and are similar in size. Apart from one, they of openwork (ie the figures were formed from holes or gaps punched through the metal). They were found within a relatively small geographical area, with find spots ranging from the area between Clonmacnoise in County Offaly and Tynan, County Armagh. The plaques are all cast as single pieces and except for the early 8th century Rinnegan and the Lismore plaques, have a unifying border.

Based on their ornamentation and iconography, apart from the very early Rinnegan Plaque, archaeologists dated them to the late 10th to early 12th centuries. Their format and iconography are based on designs found in classical Roman sculpture and in miniatures in 8th and 9th century illuminated manuscripts including the Book of Kells and Southampton Psalter.