The Art of the Picts. Sculpture and Metalwork in Early Medieval Scotland, 2004, 256 p., 326 ill. -

Using art-historical tools and drawing upon two lifetimes' experience and expertise in the field, the authors dissect and scrutinize one of the great genuine enigmas of early medieval art: the sculpture and metalwork of the Picts, early medieval inhabitants of north-east Britain. A masterpiece of scholarship and deduction, the book throws new light onto some of the more intractable problems associated with the Picts – not least the meaning of the supposedly 'pagan' symbols – and is arguably the most important publication on this subject for over a century. The large surviving Pictish corpus in stone and metalwork remained until recently the territory of archaeologists and those bewitched by the mysterious, unfathomable symbols found in so much of the art. Through careful comparison and skilful observations, however, the authors show how the art of the Picts both interacted with the currents of 'Insular' art, and – contrary to received wisdom – was produced by a sophisticated society capable of sustaining large-scale art programmes. In its acute analysis and its relentless questioning of the function and meaning of Pictish art, this book will be of great value to art historians, archaeologists, those interested in the history of the early Church, and medievalists of all disciplines.