Hand Cross
unknown
Basic information
Additionally
- Type
- decorative and applied arts ritual items
- Genre
- religious
- Provenance
- Lyskiv village, Stryi district, Lviv region
Information about author
Object description
The hand cross belongs to the typological subgroup of liturgical crosses intended for worship. It appeared in the Eastern Rite in the 15th century. According to the design, the cross from the village of Lyskiv is seven-pointed (the end of the upper frame is missing) and made using the technique of contour, notched and flat relief carving, which allows the carved elements to rise above the background rather than cut into it, creating the impression of volume and relief. Traditionally, a folk master would carve the crucifixion on the front of a hand cross, which takes up the main part of the stem. The schematic, generalised, crouching figure of Jesus, with sketched outlines and slightly elaborated details, tends to geometricise the forms. On either side of Jesus's figure are vertical lines decorated with a "kryvulka" (curved) motif. A smooth line separates the upper and lower intersections from the main composition. Their surface is filled with a flat carved geometric pattern of diagonal lines intersecting triangular shapes in relief. In the central part of the back of the cross is a carved figure of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. Following Western iconographic tradition, the author depicted Mary wearing a crown. A clear graphic outline frames the figures of the saints. The parallel lines, diagonal slashes and cross slits used by the master to decorate the hand cross give it a peculiar graphic expression.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
