A favourite Pictish cross-slab

This drawing by Bain seems to follow his initial exploration of the Rossie Priory cross-slab design. He sets out a very detailed, interpretive copy of one side of the Pictish sculptured stone. However, his illustration does have an error. Bain mirrors the knotwork design immediately to the right of the central boss of the cross. In reality the two designs are different.

It seems his attention is once again very focused on the continuous line of the knotwork decoration. HIs notes in the margin emphasise this. So it is incongruous that in its totality the knotwork actually isn’t a single line. Bain points out where the two ends of the line appear on either side of the cross. He would use this ‘feature’ when he came to create a greetings card design based on the cross-slab.