Hand Cross with A Base
unknown folk sculptor
Basic information
- ID
- Рз-1411
- Author
- unknown folk sculptor
- Name
- Hand Cross with A Base
- Date of creation
- 1865
- Country
- Ukraine
- Technique
- carving polychrome
- Material
- wood
- Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm)
- 59.8 x 28 x 18
Additionally
- Type
- decorative and applied arts
- Genre
- religious
- Provenance
- Zavadka village, Kalush district, Ivano-Frankivsk region
Information about author
Object description
In its structural design, the hand cross is seven-ended, featuring an elongated central crossbar supported on a low wooden stand with a circular base. The work is executed with a chisel in the techniques of contour, hollow, and low-relief carving. The compositional solution of the cross is simple and concise. On the front side is carved a squat, disproportionate, graphic depiction of the Crucifixion, following the Byzantine iconographic tradition. At the ends of the central crossbar are schematised, expressive half-length relief images of Mary and the Apostle John, traditional participants in the Crucifixion scene. Separated from the main composition by contour profiling, the upper and lower arms contain central reliefs: the upper one features two cherubim, while the lower one is a carved image of a saint, flanked by inscriptions in Church Slavonic. Along the perimeter of the cross, on both the front and reverse sides, runs a band, repeating the form of the arms. On the reverse, in the central section, is a graphic depiction of the Virgin in a crown with the Child Christ in her arms, in whose decorative treatment straight lines and sharp angles predominate. On either side, at the ends of the middle arm, are inscribed within circles low-relief half-length figures with minimal detailing. The reverse of the lower and upper arms is separated from the central composition. The relief is carved with pronounced graphic quality, accentuated with silver on the figures and a golden background. The simplification of the images, their graphic rendering, strict symmetry, conventionality of figures, and the dominance of the relief line over volumetric modelling reveal the hand of a folk master. The double-sided altar cross is an example of sacred art combining iconographic canons with decorative elements of folk carving.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
