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===Leather case===
===Leather case===
[[File:Reliquiario del corp naomh (sacro corpo), argento e bronzo con cristallo di rocca, da Templecross, co. Westmeath, 02 sacco in cuoio del xv sec.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The leather case, catalogue number NMI 1887:146<ref name="b516" />]]
[[File:Reliquiario del corp naomh (sacro corpo), argento e bronzo con cristallo di rocca, da Templecross, co. Westmeath, 02 sacco in cuoio del xv sec.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The leather case, catalogue number NMI 1887:146<ref name="b516" />]]
An undated portable leather case (''polaire'') was acquired by the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (RIA) in 1887 along with the shrine.<ref name="f35" /><ref name="b516" /> It consists of three pieces edge-[[Sowing|sewn]] together; rectangular front and backs ends, and a near oval closing flap. The flap corresponds in shape to the shrine's cap and in turn the bell's handle. It contains rows of stitch holes heavier than those attaching the case's three main components, indicating that it was at one time sown together, so that, according to the archeologist Cormac Bourke, "the Corp Naomh could be used but not seen".<ref name="b309">Bourke (2014), p. 309</ref> A large diagonal cross formed by two overlapping leather straps is sowed to the front of the case.<ref name="b516" />
An undated portable leather case (''polaire'') was acquired by the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (RIA) in 1887 along with the shrine.<ref name="f35" /><ref name="b516" /> It consists of three pieces edge-[[Sewing|sewn]] together; rectangular front and backs ends, and a near oval closing flap. The flap corresponds in shape to the shrine's cap and in turn the bell's handle. It contains rows of stitch holes heavier than those attaching the case's three main components, indicating that it was at one time sown together, so that, according to the archeologist Cormac Bourke, "the Corp Naomh could be used but not seen".<ref name="b309">Bourke (2014), p. 309</ref> A large diagonal cross formed by two overlapping leather straps is sowed to the front of the case.<ref name="b516" />


Although it cannot be dated on stylistic grounds, the case is generally assumed to be post-medieval.<ref name="b518">Bourke (2022), p. 518</ref>
Although it cannot be dated on stylistic grounds, the case is generally assumed to be post-medieval.<ref name="b518">Bourke (2022), p. 518</ref>

Revision as of 12:13, 3 July 2022

Corp Naomh
Front panels of the shrine
MaterialWood, silver, bronze, rock crystal, niello
Size
  • Height: 23 cm (9.1 in)
  • Width: 12 cm (4.7 in)
[1]
Created
  • 9th or 10th century
  • Refurbished in the 15th century
[2]
Period/cultureEarly Medieval, Insular
DiscoveredBefore 1682
Templecross, County Westmeath, Ireland
Present locationNational Museum of Ireland, Dublin
IdentificationNMI 1887:145[3]

The Corp Naomh ([kɔɾˠpˠ n̪ˠiːvˠ], Template:Lang-en) is a 9th or 10th century Irish shrine made to enclose a now lost hand-bell, likely produced between 600 and 900 AD, and owned by a saint whoes identity is also lost. The shrine was rediscovered before 1682 at Tristernagh Abbey, near Templecross, County Westmeath, on a site that in the 10th century also included a church, priory and graveyard. The Corp Naomh is made from cast and sheet bronze plates mounted on wooden core, and is decorated with silver, niello and rock crystal. It is severely damaged and has suffered extensive losses and wear across the centuries. When discovered a block of wood had been substituted for the bell itself.

Sections from its original 9th or 10th century phase include the cross on the reverse, and the ornate semi-circular cap on the top, which shows a bearded cleric holding a book, surrounded on both sides by horsemen above whom are large birds seemingly about to take flight. It was extensively refurbished in the 15th (and possibly 16th) centuries when the central bronze crucifixion of Jesus, the griffin and lion panel, the stamped border panels and the backing plate were added. The badly damaged crucifixion and large enamel stud on the font date from at least the 15th century. The cap's designs and motifs are continued on the reverse.

Although the shrine's medieval provenance is incomplete, it likely was held by hereditary keepers after the dissolution of Tristernagh Abbey. Sometime after the 15th century it passed into the possession of the Anglo-Irish owners of the site of the abbey. The Corp Naomh was first exhibited in 1853 by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and in 1887 was acquired by the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, where it is on permanent display in their Treasury room.

Function

By 1100 AD, surviving ancient hand-bells associated with important Irish saints from the 600-900AD period were treated as relics. The more important bells were enshrined during the late and 11th and early 12th centuries, during a period when the enshrinement of relics by the highest ranking metalworkers was at its height. Like Cumdachs (book-shaped reliquaries) and house-shaped shrines, bell-shrines are essentially metal containers. Most enshrined bells, including the Corp Naomh, follow the general shape of a tubular hand-bell, and are capped with a semicircular crest that outlines the shape of a bell handle.[4]

Discovery

Ruins of Tristernagh Abbey

The shrine was rediscovered sometime before 1682[5] on the grounds of the now ruined Tristernagh Abbey (founded 1190) in Templecross, Co. Westmeath.[6] It was first mentioned and described in Henry Piers, Chorographical Description of the County of Westmeath (written 1682, published 1770). Piers (1629–1691) was a MP, antiquarian and the then-owner of the land on which the abbey was located. Although recognised as the object as a reliquary, Piers assumed it to have been a container for a manuscript,[7] although when finally opened it was found to contain a block of wood substituting a saint's hand-bell.[8]

St. Patrick's bell, c. 500 AD; enshrined c. 1100

Although the shrine's medieval provenance is unknown, it is generally accepted that the 15th century additions were made at Tristernagh, where it was located when brought to modern attention by Piers. Historians consider it likely that the priory invested in upgrading the shrine to redeem and re-establish itself after it faced charges of treason in 1468 "for joining with Irish enemies and English rebels in raiding and burning the town of Taghmon and in destroying many of the king's loyal subjects".[6]

Piers recounts that he received the shrine at Tristernagh from an unknown man he described as "a certain gentleman, a great zealot of the romish church". Cautious not to damage the structure, he did not open the shrine (it was not finally opened until the late 19th century), but guessed that it contained "a bible of the smaller volume" (i.e. a "pocket bible"), and described the outer casing as "laced...of brass, and...studded over on the one side with pieces of crystal all set in silver....on the other side appears a crucifix of brass, and whether it have any thing hidden within it, is known I believe to no man living, but it...is held to this day in great veneration by all of the Romanish persuasion that live hereabout".[5] He continued that the shrine had an on-going tradition of use for swearing oaths, noting how the object was held in such reverence and was of such "peculiar solemnity", that any man who "delivered falsehoods...is sure to be visited in some dreadful manner".[9]

Description

The Corp Naomh title is modern and translates from Irish as the sacred or holy body, and it at one time known the Corp Nua.[10][7] The wording is based on the large central figure of Christ on the cross.[11] It is 23 cm (9.1 in) high, around the size of a pocket bible, and was thus assumed by Piers as a container for a manuscript until the mid 19th century.[9] However its shape and size are now recognised as consistent with the archeologist and historian Cormac Bourke's "Class 1" classification of hand-bells; that is the earliest of the type, produced between 600 and 900 AD with sheet iron coated with bronze, and a largely west-midlands of Ireland origin.[12][13]

The shrine has a slim wooden core onto which the various separately cast metal plates are attached. Those from the first phase are the semi-circular cap and crest at the top of the shrine and the nielloed bronze cross on the main body of the reverse.[14] The stamped side-border panels are 15th century, while the crucifixion and oval crystal on the front are dated to a third, possibly 16th century, phase.[11][15]

Cap

The cap is semi-circular, hollow, and made from a bronze casts decorated on both sides by human and animal figures. It is 12 cm (4.7 in) high and lined with an openwork crest. The front of the cap contains a bearded cleric at center and horsemen and birds on either side, while the reverse shows two confronted animals and foliate coils.[16]

The crest running along its upper border is made of bronze and decorated with three-loop running-knot interlace patterns.[17] It is in openwork with a plain ridge upper border.[14]

The reverse of the cap is badly damaged but was once as equally decorated as its front.[18] Its shape echoes that of the front, but contains an extra border between the crest and figurative panels, composed from hatched bands.[14]

Cleric

Detail of the cleric with riders, horses and birds to his left and right

The cap is dominated by a central full profile standing figure holding a book.[19] His body reaches the full length of the cap while his head extends beyond its frame onto the openwork crest, and protrudes into the reverse.[17] He is assumed to be an ecclesiastic based on both his clothing and the fact that he is partially bald, a contemporary short-hand for indicating clerics or monks.[20] He may also represent an evangelist given his similarities to the four figures on the front of the 11th century Soiscél Molaisse reliquary.[21][22]

He is depicted in low relief on metal that is in poor condition: his face is badly worn down and his lower body contains three large puncture holes from later rivets.[23] He has a discernable beard and whiskers, mouth and nose, and one preserved eye.[14] He wears a full-length tunic rendered with cross hatching on enamel and niello.[24] Raised bands divide the robe into four sections, between which are decorative panels containing designs such as incised (marked with cuts) herringbone, basket-weaved hatched and chevron (v-shaped) patterns.[14] His shoes have pointed toes and elaborate ankles, while a triquetra knot is placed above each of his feet. The pattern between his legs was likely a ring-knot, but is now damaged by a later rivet hole.[14]

His shoulders have circular ornaments and cross hatchings resembling early versions of the Orthodox cross. The 19th century historian William Frazer described these designs and their "equal-rayed limbs" as an examples of the then "popular and universally worn" Patrick's Cross type, which he said were "distinctive emblems of Christian teaching...[that were a] recognised badge of those who possessed rank in the Celtic churches".[24] Other early works containing similar designs include figures on a stone cross from Meigle, Scotland, and the 12th-century Irish Saint Manchan's Shrine.[25] Above the circular ornaments are triangular shapes likely representing brooches.[26]

Horsemen and birds

Rider on the right hand side of the crest

The four panels on either side of the cleric are cramped and contain near mirrored scenes[22] of riders and their horses positioned below large birds, all of whom face towards the cleric.[15] The riders and horses are in low relief,[14] and drawn in the so-called "Kells style" attached to a number of riding figures in earlier or contemporary Illuminated manuscripts, high crosses and Insular metalwork. The most notable similarities are from folios 58 and 255 from the Book of Kells, after which the style has been named.[26] In all identified examples the horse is small enough to be a pony, has a long and thick main, its eyes and head are downwards looking and it has a long and wide tail. Their hind legs tend to be positioned low underneath their body, with forelegs positioned forwards as if about to gallop.[27] Keeping within the tradition the two Corp Naomh rider's hands are placed inside their cloaks and they positioned low on their horses, although their legs are thrown forward below the horse's knees rather than above their shoulders.[26]

Similar figures in earlier examples, including the Book of Kells miniature, the late-10th century Clonmacnoise Crucifixion Plaque and warriors on the 11th-century shrine of the Stowe Missal, have short fringes, shoulder-length side hair and sometimes a bald crown. Here and in other later examples their hair is longer and dramatically curls-up at the back.[26][27]

Above the horsemen are two large birds with small curved beaks and long wings that appear as if to take flight. Based on contemporary iconography, Frazer speculates that the birds may represent the martyrdom of the cleric.[19][24]

Front plate

Crucifixion

Christ with closed eyes and drooping head

The figure of Christ and the silver cross was added in the 15th century and is now badly damaged. Most of the plating around him is 10th century but is now is lost, as is most of the cross.[28] Equally the 10th-century bronze backing is severely damaged especially to the lower right-hand side.[11] Christ formed in bronze, and is shown as naked except for a loincloth. He is obviously dead; his eyes are closed, his head droops to the right, his body is rigid and while his ribs are extended, his chest overall is flat.[22] His hands were at some point lost and are now replaced with crudely described rods. The badly damaged horizontal design above his head may have once been either a crown or a band of hair.[22]

Opposing griffin and lion above Christ's left arm

Above Christ's left arm is an embossed (i.e. the metal was hammered into shape from the back) silver panel showing a dragon or griffin and lion confronting each other in symmetrical poses. This was likely one of a series of similar plates surrounding the length of his body, but are now lost.[11] In the panel, the animal's hindlegs are extended as if they about are about to attack each other.[22] Confronted griffin and lions were a common motif in 15th-century Irish art, notably on the c 1493 wooden Dunvegan Cup, a fact that has been used to date the additions to the main panel.[29] The examples from this period are so similar that a number of art historians have suggested they were copied or based on a single die-stamp. The art historian Susanne McNab speculates that the design on the Corp Naomh comes from the same stamp as the 14th century addition to the Cathach 's shrine.[29]

The remnants of other embossed plates survive, including a strip of dotted tetrahedra (triangular pyramidal shapes) lining the left margin, while a floral pattern runs along the top border, but is badly damaged.[22]

Reverse plate

19th century drawing of the reverse by Margaret Stokes

The back plate is made from bronze and is badly damaged. Its upper angels are stepped, so that it is wider at the top than at the base.[30] It is overlain with a further plate, also damaged, containing a grid of equal sized and interlinked cast openwork crosses.[11][31] They are similar to the 11th century patterns on the reverses of both the Soiscél Molaisse and Shrine of Miosach, amongst other contemporary Irish metal relic containers.[26][30] This plate dates to roughly the same period as the first phase, but may have been produced slightly later and independently.[30]

A full-length, but now severely damaged and incomplete cross is fixed to the openwork plate by rivets. Both the upper shaft and end of the left arm are missing, although the remaining traces indicate that they matched the remaining, corresponding sections in length and width. The arms are each positioned within a band of interlace, while the lower shaft is within two fields of interlace. In turn the interlace is lined with bands of niello, most of which are lost, with only traces of inset and sliver wires surviving.[30]

It is unknown how the front and reverse originally fitted together; they may have been individually laid over the main sides of a bell, or, as most archeologists believe, have formed part of a box-like container for a hand-bell, in a shape similar to the c. 1100 St. Patrick's Bell Shrine, and thus are now missing their side panels which would have been also decorated.[32]

Leather case

The leather case, catalogue number NMI 1887:146[30]

An undated portable leather case (polaire) was acquired by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) in 1887 along with the shrine.[8][30] It consists of three pieces edge-sewn together; rectangular front and backs ends, and a near oval closing flap. The flap corresponds in shape to the shrine's cap and in turn the bell's handle. It contains rows of stitch holes heavier than those attaching the case's three main components, indicating that it was at one time sown together, so that, according to the archeologist Cormac Bourke, "the Corp Naomh could be used but not seen".[16] A large diagonal cross formed by two overlapping leather straps is sowed to the front of the case.[30]

Although it cannot be dated on stylistic grounds, the case is generally assumed to be post-medieval.[33]

Provenance

The shrine was first exhibited at the Irish Industrial Exhibition world's fair held in Cork in 1852,[33] where it was shown alongside recently discovered Insular works such as the Cathach, Saint Manchan's Shrine and the Cross of Cong.[10] It was acquired c. 1868 for £21 by the RIA from Messrs. Hodges Figgis & Co. of Grafton Street, Dublin.[33] before it was bequeathed to the National Museum of Ireland in 1887.[8]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Overbey (2012), p. XII
  2. ^ Bourke (2022), p. 517
  3. ^ Bourke (2022), p. 514
  4. ^ Bourke (2014), p. 304
  5. ^ a b Overbey (2012), p. 139
  6. ^ a b Overbey (2012), p. 140
  7. ^ a b Betham (1826), p. 21
  8. ^ a b c Frazer (1899), p. 35
  9. ^ a b Tristernagh (1846), p. 395
  10. ^ a b Overbey (2012), p. 26
  11. ^ a b c d e Overbey (2012), p. 137
  12. ^ Johnson (2005), p. 309
  13. ^ Bourke (1980), pp. 60–61
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Johnson (2005), p. 306
  15. ^ a b Frazer (1899), p. 36
  16. ^ a b Bourke (2014), p. 309
  17. ^ a b De Paor (1977), p. 181
  18. ^ Ó Floinn; Wallace (2002), p. 272
  19. ^ a b Overbey (2012), p. 142
  20. ^ Overbey (2012), p. 62
  21. ^ Moss (2007), p. 63
  22. ^ a b c d e f De Paor (1977), p. 182
  23. ^ Johnson (2005), p. 303
  24. ^ a b c Frazer (1899), p. 37
  25. ^ Frazer (1899), p. 38
  26. ^ a b c d e Overbey (2012), p. 141
  27. ^ a b McNab (2001), p. 178
  28. ^ Ó Floinn; Wallace (2002), p. 314
  29. ^ a b McNab (2001), p. 305
  30. ^ a b c d e f g Bourke (2022), p. 516
  31. ^ Crawford (1923), p. 77
  32. ^ Overbey (2012), p. 137, 139
  33. ^ a b c Bourke (2022), p. 518

Sources

  • Betham, William. Irish Antiquarian Researches, 1826. Republished by Palala Press in 2015.
  • Bourke, Cormac. The Early Medieval Hand-bells of Ireland and Britain. Dublin: Wordwell, 2022. ISBN 978-0-9017-7788-1
  • Bourke, Cormac. "Bell-Shrines". In: Moss, Rachel. Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland. London: Yale University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-3001-7919-4
  • Bourke, Cormac. "Early Irish Hand-Bells". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 110, 1980. JSTOR 25508775
  • Crawford, Henry. "A Descriptive List of Irish Shrines and Reliquaries. Part I". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, sixth series, volume 13, No. 1, 30 June 1923. JSTOR 25513282
  • De Paor, Marie. "The Viking Impact". In: Treasures of Early Irish Art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D.. NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. ISBN 978-0-8709-9164-6
  • Frazer, William. "On "Patrick's Crosses": Stone, Bronze and Gold". Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, fifth series, volume 9, No. 1, March 31, 1899
  • Henry, Françoise. Irish Art during the Viking Invasions (800–1020 A.D.). London: Methuen & Co, 1967
  • Johnson, Ruth. "A descriptive account of the decoration on the early medieval shrine known as the Corp Naomh". In: Condit, Tom; Corlett, Christiaan (eds). Above & Beyond: Essays in Memory of Leo Swan. Dublin: Wordwell, 2005. ISBN 978-1-8698-5786-8
  • McNab, Susanne. Celtic Antecedents to the Treatment of the Human Figure in Early Irish Art. In: Hourihane, Colum (ed). "From Ireland Coming: Irish Art from the Early Christian to the Late Gothic Period and Its European Context". Princeton University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-6910-8824-2
  • Moss, Rachel. Making and Meaning in Insular Art: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Insular Art. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-8518-2986-6
  • Ó Floinn, Raghnall; Wallace, Patrick. Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities. Dublin: National Museum of Ireland, 2002. ISBN 978-0-7171-2829-7
  • Overbey, Karen. Sacral Geographies: Saints, Shrines and Territory in Medieval Ireland. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. ISBN 978-2-503-52767-3
  • Piers, Henry. "A Chorographical Description of the County of West-Meath (1682)". Meath: Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, 1981. ISBN 978-0-9500-3324-2
  • "Tristernagh". The Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland (1814-45). Dublin: A. Fullarton and Co., 1846
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