Altar Cross
unknown
Basic information
- ID
- С-I-881
- Author
- unknown
- Name
- Altar Cross
- Date of creation
- 18th c.
- Country
- Ukraine
- Technique
- carving polychrome
- Material
- wood
- Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm)
- 64 x 24.5 x 1.9
Additionally
- Type
- decorative and applied arts
- Genre
- religious
- Provenance
- Handed over by the Stryi Local Studies Museum, 1966
Information about author
Object description
The altar features a wooden three-barred cross on a square relief base, which has a complex form with broadened ends carved in the shape of triple-lobed terminations. The work belongs to the iconographic type of the blooming cross. At the ends of each arm are rounded projections – decorative overlays or studs emphasising the sacred purpose of the object and its connection with the Golgotha Crucifixion. On the front side of the central shaft and the middle crossbeam, there is a faintly discernible polychrome image of the Crucified Christ. The outlines of the nimbus, the facial features, and the figure in a perizoma, a loincloth at the hips, can be distinguished, rendered in a manner characteristic of folk masters, where the graphic contour plays the principal role. The surface has lost a significant part of its original painted layer and coating, yet remnants of a dark brown and golden-greenish tonality remain, which once imparted solemnity to the work. The reverse side has also preserved traces of a painted drawing with an iconographic depiction of the Baptism of Christ. On the central shaft, the graphic figure of Christ is represented, above whom is a dove – the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Despite significant damage and loss, the altar cross has retained its monumental and powerful presence. The traces of paint and the graphic features of the central images make it possible to envisage the original brightness of the composition, while the marks of ageing lend it a particular resonance. The altar cross is an example of a wooden sacred sculpture that combines symbolism, decorativeness, and liturgical function.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
