The rear (E) face of the mid-C9th, Class II Pictish cross-slab in Aberlemno churchyard, Angus, Tayside, Scotland, UK. A battle scene or narrative.
The rear (E) face of the mid-C9th, Class II Pictish cross-slab in Aberlemno churchyard, Angus, Tayside, Scotland, UK. A battle scene or narrative featuring horsemen & foot soldiers equipped with helmets, shields, swords & spears. At the top are Pictish symbols of a notched & decorated rectangle overlain by a Z-rod with a triple disc to its R. The slab of Old Red Sandstone is edged by two serpentine beasts whose gaping jaws meet at the apex. The hole bored through the stone is not part of the original design. The cross-slab was once thought to be an C8th memorial carved 100 years after the Battle of Nechtansmere where the Picts defeated the Northumbrians in 685. Based on art motifs on the front (W) face, the stone is now considered to be from the mid 800s: new suggestions include an encounter between Picts & Vikings or a Christian representation of spiritual battle.
Size: 2677px × 3785px
Location: Aberlemno Churchyard Pictish Cross-slab, Forfar, Angus, Tayside, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -rod, 2, 9th, aberlemno, angus, animals, art, battle, beasts, britain, carved, carving, century, churchyard, cross-slab, early, east, face, foot, forfar, gaping, great, helmets, historic, horsemen, horses, ii, jaws, kingdom, medieval, monument, narrative, nechtansmere, northumbrians, notched, pictish, picts, rear, rectangle, red, riders, sandstone, scene, scotland, sculptured, serpentine, shields, slab, soldiers, spears, spiral, stone, stones, swords, symbols, tayside, triple, uk, united, vikings, weapons
