Where can I find good images of celtic crosses?

March 23, 2009 12:32 PM

For some reason I am just incredibly drawn to celtic crosses. There's just something about them that captivates me. What are some good resources for finding good images, paintings, etc. of celtic crosses?

Prefer photographs, but am open to other forms of artwork. Not as keen on cartoony-type stuff with fairies and the like but, again, I'm open to it if it's really well done.

If you have specific images in mind, do share, but so this doesn't get too chat-filtery I'm asking for specific collections or resources for finding good images. Done the Flickr search so please don't recommend that (unless you have a specific image on Flickr you want to share). Either I suck at searching or there just isn't as much as I would expect to find there.

Thanks!

posted by jluce50 to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

You might try searching for "High Cross" rather than Celtic Cross. When they are in Ireland and made of stone, that's what they're usually called.
posted by tiny crocodile at 12:58 PM on March 23, 2009

He doesn't do very many crosses but I suspect you might like the work of Jim Fitzpatrick.
posted by Wilder at 1:40 PM on March 23, 2009

Oh, and if you ever get a chance you have to visit Monasterboice
posted by Wilder at 1:43 PM on March 23, 2009

My friend on Deviantart has done a lot of vectored celtic crosses. Yankeedog
posted by Duke999R at 2:00 PM on March 23, 2009

I've always admired the artwork at Aon Celtic - so much so that I have one of their designs tattooed on my shoulder. Celtic cross artwork can be found in the gallery and freeware sections of the website.
posted by geeky at 4:22 PM on March 23, 2009

I haven't read the appropriate Wikipedia pages for a while but they are a good place to start. High crosses and celtic crosses were a particular product of late insular art, as well as stone carvings (see also the elegant and stylish Pictish carved stones) they also occur in dramatic vform in illuminated manuscripts; Lindesfarne and Kells being the best remaining. Someone recently suggested they were not just religious symbols but also navigational aids. The symbol very likely has pre-christian origins in marking the cycle of the year.
George Bain wrote the definitive, and charismatic , book on constructinbg celtic art.

Sorry for lack of links: not possible with my device!
posted by BadMiker at 5:58 PM on March 23, 2009

Celtic cross tattoo images including the "Mother of all Celtic Crosses."
posted by forrestal at 6:17 AM on March 24, 2009