Madam, – In reply to Oliver Devin's query (January 7th), what is carved on Muiredach's Cross at Monasterboice is The Adoration of the Magi, but not The Nativity, which is a totally different iconographical composition and one which is, surprisingly, not present on any of Ireland's surviving High Crosses.
The Magi appear behind the Virgin and Child on a number of other Irish crosses, but Monasterboice has the only certain Irish example where the Magi approach from the right – an arrangement which, as Mr Devin points out, is also found in Byzantine images.
But whether the Monasterboice representation is the oldest stone carving of the Magi in Ireland, only God alone knows at this stage. – Yours, etc,
Dr PETER HARBISON,
Royal Irish Academy,
Dawson Street,
Dublin 2.