Medieval Work-in-Progress seminar

A Sermon in Stone: Pictish sculpture at St Vigeans, Angus

The Picts have left no听documentary sources to explain their history or beliefs. Instead,听they have听left behind a rich but mute gallery of magnificent stone sculpture. One of the largest collections was assembled in the 8-9th centuries at the church of St Vigeans. Here, stone No.007 presents an enigmatic sequence of scenes,听brutal, pagan and Christian,听surrounding a cross. The literary and pictorial sources for these scenes reveal their patrons had a wide knowledge of literature and were caught up in contemporary religious controversy. By carefully observing the construction of the cross, the substance of its polemical sermon begins to emerge.

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11 May 2016

91制片厂, Somerset House, Strand, London

Citations