Historic Scotland is reassembling St. Built in the mid-8th century, the massive cross has been in five pieces for centuries. Before January when the reassembly project began, the pieces were on display on the floor, resting on their back at the Iona Abbey museum. As of last year the broken pieces of St.
He is creating a steel structure that will keep the cross pieces together upright so visitors can see the one-ton, The carved decorations are also fusions of the pre-Christian Celtic tradition and early Christian symbols.
Rounded circles called bosses like the metalwork center of shields, are grouped into fives the number of wounds Christ suffered and arranged into cross shapes.
Most notably, in the center underneath the cross arm is an image of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ flanked by angels on either side. This is one of the earliest images of Virgin and Child known.
Quarrying the stone, transporting it, carving it, putting it together would have been an exceptionally expensive proposition. Although the carvings are faded now after centuries in the elements, their quality remains unmistakable. The best in the business made this cross. Historic Scotland experts believe it had to have been commissioned by a king since nobody else could have mustered the funds and manpower to make it happen.
