Hand Cross
unknown
Basic information
Additionally
- Type
- decorative and applied arts ritual items
- Genre
- religious
- Provenance
- Lviv region
Information about author
Object description
The design of the handmade cross is seven-pointed (the ends of the upper frame are lost), with an elongated central frame. Traditionally, the craftsman placed a carved figure of the crucified Saviour on the front, against the background of a four-pointed cross with an inclined base. The flat carved body of Jesus with a loincloth is anatomically disproportionate: short, thin arms, large head, massive feet. The folk artist has lightly decorated the body with shallow slits. Above Christ's head is a traditional plaque with the inscription "INRI". At the ends of the middle section of the cross, clearly outlined by a shallow contour with graphic clothing details, are the figures of the Virgin Mary and John. On the reverse, the main part of the cross, the central part of the stem and the middle section are filled with the iconographic scene of the Baptism of Jesus. The biblical story has been known in western Ukraine since the fourteenth century. It was often depicted according to the established Byzantine scheme: in the centre of the plane of the cross, Jesus is shown with a loincloth and his arms folded across his chest, and to his left is John the Baptist with his hand raised above the head of Christ. Above Jesus, the Holy Spirit descends from heaven as a dove against vertical, shallow grooves. On the central cross, the two ends are filled with girdled images of angels. The lower cross on either side of the liturgical cross is separated from the main composition by a smooth band framed on the inside by a "kryvulka" (curved) motif. Along the contour, a solid, smooth line frames all the cross ends.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
