Hand Cross
unknown
Basic information
Additionally
- Type
- decorative and applied arts ritual items
- Genre
- religious
- Provenance
- Sydorivka village, Stryi district, Lviv region
Information about author
Object description
The cross has a seven-pointed design, with a short handle and an elongated middle handle, and is carved using the flat carving technique. The compositional solution is simple and laconic, without multi-figure scenes. On the front, the folk artist has placed the Crucifixion in the central stem. The figure of Christ with outstretched arms and head tilted to the right shoulder is modelled planarly. The background around Christ is set shallowly, with vertical lines and grooves. Two wait-length figures, possibly standing, can be seen at the ends of the central frame. The artist used only shallow incisions. The schematised figure of Jesus on the cross imitates Byzantine iconography. The upper and lower frames are separated from the main composition, creating separate surfaces framed by lines. There is an illegible inscription at the base of the upper crossbar and a motif of squares on the lower crossbar. On the back of the cross is a full-length figure of the Virgin and Child, wearing a crown. On either side of the Virgin, at the ends of the central frame, are reliefs of figures made in the technique of flat carving with small reproductions of details. The background is decorated with vertical slits. The outline of the cross of hands is framed by a smooth line that follows the frame's shape. The images' graphic, geometric and simplified nature reveals a folk artist's hand.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
