Graveslab

The National Monuments Service's description

A graveslab with the head of a man in relief is inside the locked ground floor of the tower of Skreen church (ME032-047003-). It has been be dated to the first quarter of the 15th century by Hunt (1974, 1, 213) who describes it as:
Attached to the west wall on the ground floor of the belfry is a wedge-shaped slab with raised borders. Down the centre of the field is carved a cross of simple form standing upon a base, charged with a shield. The stem of the cross is broad for three-quarters of its height. There is a moulding at this point and it continues as a narrower stem with chamfered sides and arms. Above the head of the cross, beneath a semi-circular arch of simple form, there is a head of a man, too fragmentary to show details. He wears a hat with a broad semi-circular brim and expanding crown. The upper part of the hat seems to be fluted. The type recalls Burgundian modes and suggests a date in the first quarter of the fifteenth century.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 27 January, 2015

References

Hunt, J. 1974 Irish medieval figure sculpture 1200-1600, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish University Press.