Granite: 5x8x7ft 7.00 tons. Location: Island of Iona. Gifted.
Fallen Christ
Carved in pink and grey Kemnay granite this powerful work portrays the Fallen Christ on the road to Calvary with the burden of the world on his back. His arm becomes the vertical part of the cross with the heavy beam on which are carved the letters I.N.R.I. – Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
This sculpture is appropriately sited outside the MacLeod Centre on Iona, the island of pilgrimage on the west coast of Scotland where St. Columba landed from Ireland in AD563.
The sculpture is dedicated to the memory of Jim Hughes who was an active member of the Iona Community and friend of the sculptor. Margaret, Jim’s wife who features in the video below sadly died last year her ashes being scattered round the sculpture as Jim’s had been too.
To see a short video about this sculpture go to Latest News on Video at the right hand column of this page and click on Ronald Rae visits his Fallen Christ sculpture on Iona.
The Fallen Christ has inspired many poems – Child’s Play by one of Mull’s leading poets Jan Sutch Pickard beautifully describes a day in the life of the sculpture.
Child’s Play
Sun burnishes the granite,
a blessing on the stone
making it warm as human skin
but still as hard as bone.
Sculpture of the Fallen Christ
like an erratic boulder:
a child at play has clambered up
to perch upon his shoulder
She rides upon the solid rock
joyfully, safely there:
rough stone supports her hands and feet,
the wind plays with her hair.
I see a place of refuge
for a troubled little girl:
God’s back being broad enough to bear
the weight of all the world.
Jan Sutch Pickard – Wild Goose Publications