Object Image

The Druids - Bringing in the Mistletoe

In this nocturnal scene, Celtic priests or Druids in richly decorated ceremonial robes solemnly process down a wooded, snow-clad hillside in the moonlight. This painting is one of two collaborative works Glasgow Boy painters George Henry and E. A. Hornel produced in 1890-91, the other being Star in the East (1891). Of the Boys, Hornel was the most drawn to Scottish archaeology and Celtic folklore and he probably suggested the subject matter of this visionary painting depicting the Celtic religious rite of bringing in the sacred mistletoe. The mistletoe, having been cut from the sacred oak by a golden sickle held by the Druid leading the procession, is being reverently carried on the backs of tw...
1890
Oil on canvas
1524.0 x 1524.0mm
1534
Images and text: CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection, 2024