St Madoes Pictish Stone

St Madoes Pictish Stone

Culture,Movable Cultural Heritage,Tourism

A magnificent piece of early medieval sculpture, the Pictish St Madoes cross-slab, dates to the eighth century AD. Its imagery powerfully symbolises the authority of the Christian church. The whole is dominated by the ring-headed cross that fills what we can accept as the front of the slab. It is surrounded by biting dogs and with two lion-like creatures facing each other across the top of the stone. The back of the slab shows three cloaked and hooded riders, probably churchmen (possibly a reference to the road and its users between St Andrews and Scone), and below them three Pictish symbols: a crescent and v-rod, a double-disc and z-rod and a Pictish beast. The symbols are much worn due to exposure to the elements when it stood in St Madoes churchyard. In 1991, the stone was conserved and moved to what is now the Perth Art Gallery. In the first thousand years AD, the country we now call Scotland was dominated by changing groups of Celtic peoples, most notably the Picts. From AD 250-900, they controlled most of Scotland north of the River Forth. We do not know what they called themselves. The Picts – meaning “the painted ones” – is the name the Romans gave them. Their language has disappeared, and no Pictish manuscripts are known to have survived. But their art survives on over 300 pieces of carved stonework and a much smaller number of portable objects such as jewellery. - Perth Museum

reconstructions

2023/24

Reconstruction

1514

In Copyright (InC)

current,56.3752472,-3.3067511;

https://perthmuseum.co.uk/star-object/st-madoes-stone/

https://sketchfab.com/models/a8cd4eff21e44466a9bcaa9fc779ce10/embed

TEXT

The St Madoes Stone was carefully digitally scanned using photogrammetry. Members of the Open Virtual Worlds Team were advised by experts from the Perth Museum as to the colours that may have been used. This wonderful example of Pictish carving was installed as part of the exhibits showcasing Scotland's vast and rich history in the new Perth Museum. Perth Museum officially reopened to the public on Saturday, March 30, 2024, after a £27 million redevelopment project. The museum is now housed in the former Perth City Hall.

Mark Anthony Hall, PhD, is Collections Officer at Perth Museum & Art Gallery (managed by Culture Perth & Kinross on behalf of Perth & Kinross Council). This role is the current iteration of a long-term position at the Museum curating human history collections, in particular archaeology, world cultures and numismatics. Mark's extensive research enabled us to create the colours we believe may have been used to paint the stones. Paints would be created using natural materials such as flora and fauna.

Mark Hall (Perth Museum)

Sharon Pisani, John McCaffery, Alan Miller (University of St Andrews)

AD 250-900