CAG.1429 Chimneypiece, 1585, limestone, 167.6 x 308.4cm.

WORK OF THE WEEK! Quite literally part of the furniture, this chimneypiece is among the oldest items in the collection and even predates our building.

Visitors to the gallery will recognise this distinctive limestone feature in the heart of our café. It bears the date 1585 and the inscription ‘Soli Deo Honor Et Gloria Amen’ (Honour and Glory to God Alone, Amen), a term from the Vulgate (Latin) translation of the Bible.

While we do not know who made it, there are curious rose and plant motifs and two male figures in sixteenth-century dress playing horn instruments. Are these references to the reigning Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, or something more local? Take a closer look next time you sample the delights of Crawford Gallery Café, which is beautifully decked out for the festive season!

Transferred to our historic Custom House (1724) block from Cork’s Christchurch in 1919, at over three metres in width it must have housed quite the open fire in its day! On this stormy December evening, we hope all of our followers are fortunate to be close to a warm hearth.

As Gaeilge

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