Colum Hourihane

Last updated August 17, 2023

Colum Hourihane is an Irish-born art historian, iconographer, and editor formerly of Princeton University, specializing in medieval art and iconographic studies.^[1] From 1997 to 2014, Hourihane was the director of the Index of Christian Art, the largest thematic and iconographic index of medieval art and architecture in the world. Here, he stewarded the project during its early days of digitization and developed an annual conference program which placed the Index at the forefront of medieval art scholarly exchange. He first studied archaeology at University College Cork and the National University of Ireland Galway (1977) before earning a PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1984.^[2]

Hourihane has published on the subjects of iconography, Index history and methodology, and Gothic Irish art.^[3] He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy ^[4] and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. In 2012, Hourihane edited the "Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture" for Oxford University Press, and was the editor for the "Routledge Companion to Medieval Iconography" in 2017. Between 2008 and 2011, he was president of the International Center of Medieval Art.

Selected publications

Books

The Processional Cross in Late Medieval England: the Dallye Cross. London: Society of Antiquaries of London, 2005. ISBN 0854312811
Gothic Art in Ireland 1169-1550: Enduring Vitality. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-3000-9435-0 ^[5]
The Mason and His Mark: Masons' Marks in the Medieval Irish Archbishoprics of Cashel and Dublin. Oxford, England: J. and E. Hedges, 2000. ISBN 1841711322

Articles

"Classifying Subject Matter in Medieval Art: The Index of Christian Art at Princeton University." Visual Resources, Volume 20:3, 2014.
"Sourcing the Index: Iconography and its Debt to Photography." In Futures Past: Twenty Years of Arts Computing (ed. Anna Bentkowska-Kafel), CHArt conference, 2004.
"It Begins with the Cataloguer: Subject Access to Images and the Cataloguer's Perspective." In Introduction to Art Image Access: Issues, Tools, Standards, and Strategies (ed. Murtha Baca), Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2002.
"They Stand on his Shoulders: Morey, Iconography, and the Index of Christian Art." In Insights and Interpretations: Studies in Celebrations of the Eighty-fifth Anniversary of the Index of Christian Art (Princeton, NJ: Index of Christian Art/Princeton University Press, 2002), pp. 3-16.

Edited Volumes

Manuscripta Illuminata: Approaches to Understanding Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-9837537-3-5
Patronage: Power and Agency in Medieval Art (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9837-5374-2 ^[6]
Abraham in Medieval Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Art (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9837537-2-8
From Minor to Major: The Minor Arts in Medieval Art History (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-9837537-1-1
Insular and Anglo-Saxon Art and Thought in the Early Medieval Period (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9837537-0-4
Gothic Art and Thought in the Later Medieval Period (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9768202-9-1
Looking Beyond: Visions, Dreams, and Insights in Medieval Art and History (ed.). Penn State University Press, 2010.
Pontius Pilate, Anti-Semitism, and the Passion in Medieval Art. Princeton University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-6911-3956-2
Time in the Medieval World: Occupations of the Months and Signs of the Zodiac in the Index of Christian Art. Princeton University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9768202-3-9
Virtue and Vice: The Personifications in the Index of Christian Art, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, 2000. ISBN 978-0-6910-5037-9
King David in the Index of Christian Art, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, 2002. ISBN 978-0691095479
From Ireland Coming: Irish Art from the Early Christian to the Late Gothic Periods and its Context within Europe (ed.). Yale University Press, 1984.

Related Research Articles

Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct from artistic style. The word iconography comes from the Greek εἰκών ("image") and γράφειν.

A cumdach or book shrine is an elaborate ornamented metal reliquary box or case used to hold Early Medieval Irish manuscripts or relics. They are typically later than the book they contain, often by several centuries. In most surviving examples the book comes from the peak age of Irish monasticism before 800, and the extant cumdachs date from after 1000, although it is clear the form dates from considerably earlier. The majority are of Irish origin, with most surviving examples now in the National Museum of Ireland (NMI).

The Tara Brooch is an Irish Celtic brooch, dated to the late-7th or early-8th century, of the pseudo-penannular type. It is made from bronze, silver and gold, with a head formed from a circular ornate ring that is intricately decorated on both sides. Its upper half is hollow while the lower half is solid with fused terminals. The brooch was constructed from numerous individually made pieces, and its front and reverse sides are both decorated with around 50 inserted cast panels containing highly ornate filigree. The borders and terminals contain multiple panels holding multi-coloured studs, interlace patterns, filigree and Celtic spirals. The brooch is widely considered the most complex and ornate of its kind, and would have been commissioned to be worn as a fastener for the cloak of a high ranking cleric or as ceremonial insignia of high office for a High King of Ireland in Irish Early Medieval society.

The Cross of Cong is an early 12th-century Irish Christian ornamented cusped processional cross, which was, as an inscription says, made for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht and High King of Ireland to donate to the Cathedral church of the period that was located at Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. The cross was subsequently moved to Cong Abbey at Cong, County Mayo, from which it takes its name.

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References

↑ "Colum Hourihane". Princeton University. Retrieved 31 July 2022
↑ "Dr Colum Hourihane’s book on Bantry through the Centuries selling at a fast pace". The Southern Star , 3 September 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2022
↑ "Colum Hourihane: Oxford Biographies". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 July 2022
↑ "Colum Hourihane, MA (NUI 1977), PhD (Lond 1983). Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 31 July 2022
↑ Carville, Geraldine. "Reviewed Work: Gothic Art in Ireland, 1169-1550: Euduring Vitality". Speculum (University of Chicago Press), vol. 80, No. 2, April 2005. pp. 592–594. JSTOR 20463325
↑ Flora, Holly. "Reviewed Work: Patronage: Power and Agency in Medieval Art by Colum Hourihane". Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 67, No. 3, 2014. pp. 949–951. JSTOR 678790

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[nj-1] "Colum Hourihane". Princeton University. Retrieved 31 July 2022

[ss-2] "Dr Colum Hourihane’s book on Bantry through the Centuries selling at a fast pace". The Southern Star , 3 September 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2022

[ox4-3] "Colum Hourihane: Oxford Biographies". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 July 2022

[4] "Colum Hourihane, MA (NUI 1977), PhD (Lond 1983). Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 31 July 2022

[5] Carville, Geraldine. "Reviewed Work: Gothic Art in Ireland, 1169-1550: Euduring Vitality". Speculum (University of Chicago Press), vol. 80, No. 2, April 2005. pp. 592–594. JSTOR 20463325

[6] Flora, Holly. "Reviewed Work: Patronage: Power and Agency in Medieval Art by Colum Hourihane". Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 67, No. 3, 2014. pp. 949–951. JSTOR 678790

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