Harper on a stone slab on Iona

The abbey of Iona includes a stones museum, filled with amazing medieval sculptured crosses and grave slabs gathered from all over the island. One of these slabs shows the figure of a harp player, a rare depiction of the playing of the Gaelic harp in West Highland medieval art.

The stone was originally from St Oran's Churchyard. It is said to date from the 14th or 15th century. There is a large number of similar carved slabs from the West Highlands from this time, with a shared repertory of motifs and designs. The animals and the leaf shapes on this slab can be compared with the decoration on the forepillar of the Queen Mary harp.

A photo of the slab can be found at the Royal Commission website.

Depictions - more ancient images of Gaelic harp players.