Tag: Carving

Image of the day – 57

Action without thought is usually a waste of effort, thought without action is ineffective. Thinking it through and then doing it is the way to go!

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Stone plaque, Cirencester

This intriguing carved, stone plaque is in Cirencester’s West Market Place, close to the Parish Church. The Latin inscription ‘VIRTUTE ET INGENIO’ is interesting; ‘VIRTUTE’ can mean ‘virtue’, ‘courage’, ‘strength’ or ‘power’; ‘ET’ is ‘and’; while the word ‘INGENIO’ means ‘wit’ in the sense of cleverness, not humour. So the best I can offer is ‘strength and cleverness’, the English expression ‘brawn and brains’ sums it up quite well.

The shield above contains a rampant lion with two tails, holding up what looks like a rose. And on either side is a shoot of ivy, each with one ivy flower cluster. Do those two tails refer to the idea of something twofold, perhaps the need to be strong in both action and thought, body and mind?

Maybe someone in Cirencester knows the meaning and history of this interesting artefact. But meanwhile I’ll just take it as very sound advice that we need to think things through properly, and then act on whatever conclusion we might come to. Action without thought is usually a waste of effort, thought without action is ineffective. Thinking it through and then doing it is the way to go!

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 53

The crosses are usually carved with traditional Celtic patterns, but often they have panels containing carved pictures that illustrate a story.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Stone high cross at Monasterboice

Irish monasteries had a number of features not found (or rarely found) in other parts of the British Isles. The round towers are one example, there are one or two in Scotland and the Isle of Man, but nowhere else outside Ireland. Stone high crosses are another example. These are found throughout the British Isles and parts of France. The ruined monastery of Monasterboice has a round tower similar to the one at Glendalough, but is particularly noted for several outstanding high crosses, one of these features in my photo.

The crosses are usually carved with traditional Celtic patterns, but often they have panels containing carved pictures that illustrate a story, perhaps a Bible story. They were clearly important to the people and communities that took so much care and effort to create them, and they are one of many strong reminders of the Celtic, and particularly the Irish Christian traditions that were significantly different in many ways from the later, Catholic traditions coming into south-eastern England in Saxon times.

The Catholic Church brought initially to Kent from the Continent introduced a hierarchical style, with church officials under the Pope, and fixed orders of service. The Celtic church that had developed from early, pre-Catholic traditions in Roman Britain, was based more on travelling teachers (often missionary monks) who were more flexible in style, without strict rules. They often took little with them but their learning, and depended on the people they taught to support them on their journeys.

Which of these two styles do you think followed the teachings of Jesus most closely?


Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!