CROSS
528
CROSS
filol. critica", 282). The little metal vases pre- To this same period belongs a crucifix at Mount
served at Monza. in which was carried to Queen Theo- Athos (see Smith's "Dictionary of Christian Antiq-
dolinda the oil from the Holy Places, show clearly uities", London, 1875, I, 514), as well as an ivorj' in
how the repugnance to effigies of Christ lasted well the British Museum. Christ is shown wearing only a
into the sixth century. In the scene of the Cruci- loin-cloth: He appears as if alive, and not suffering
fixion thereon depicted, the two thieves alone are
seen with arms extended, in the attitude of cruci-
fixion, but without a cross, while Christ appears as an
orante, with a nimbus, ascending among the clouds,
and in all the majesty of glory, above a cross hidden
under a decoration of flowers. (Cf. Mozzoni, op. cit., 77,
84.) In the same manner, on another monument, we
see the cross between two archangels while the bust of
Christ is shown above.
Another very impor-
tant monument of this
century, and perhaps
dating even from the
preceding one, is the
Crucifixion carved on
the wooden doors at
S. Sabina on the Avcn-
tine Hill, at Rome.
The Crucified Christ,
stripped of His gar-
ments, and on a cross,
but not nailed to the
cross, and between
two thieves, is shown
as an orante, and the
scene of the Crucifix-
ion is, to a certain
extent, artistically
veiled. The carving
is roughly done, but
the work has become
of great importance,
owing to recent studies
thereon, wherefore we
shall briefly indicate
the various writings
dealing with it : Grisar,
"Analecta Romana",
427 sqq.; Berthier,
"La Porte de Sainte-
Sabinea Rome; Etude
archeologiqvie" (Fri-
bourg, Switzerland,
1892); Perate. "L'Ar-
cheologie chretienne"
in " Bibliotheque de
I'enseignementdes
beaux arts" (Paris,
1892, pp. 330-36);
Bertram," Die Thuren
von Sta. Sabina in
Rom: das Vorbild der
Bern wards Thuren am
Dom zu Hildesheim
(Fribourg, Switzer-
land, 1892); Ehrhard, '
dor Basilika Sta. Sabina in Rom" in "Der Katholik", LXXII (1892), 444 sqq., 538 sqq.; "CiviltiCattolica", IV (1892), 68-89; "Romische Quartalschrift " , VII (189.3), 102; "Analecta Bollandiana", XIII (1894), 53; Forrer and Miiller, "Kreuz und Kreuzigimg Christi in ihrcr Kunstentwicklung" (Strasburg, 1S94), 15, PI. II and PI. Ill; Strzygowski, "Das Berliner Moses-
physical pain. To the left, Judas is seen hanged,
and below is the purse of money. In the following
century the Crucifixion is still sometimes represented
with the restrictions we have noticed, for instance,
in the mosaic made in 642 by Pope Theodore in S.
Stefano Rotondo, Rome. There, between Sts. Pri-
mas and Felician, the cross is to be seen, with the
bust of the Saviour just above it. In the same sev-
enth century, also,
the scene of the Cru-
cifixion is shown in
all its historic reality
in the crj-pt of St.
Valentine's Catacomb
on the Via Flaminia
I cf . M a r u c c h i , La
cripta sepolcrale di S.
\' a 1 e n t i n o , Rome,
1S7S). Bosio saw it
in the sixteenth cen-
tury, and it was then
in a better state of
preser\'ation than it
is to-day (Bosio,
Roma Sott., Ill, Ixv).
Christ crucified ap-
pears between Our
Lady and St. John,
and is clad in a long,
flowing tunic (coyo-
te; m ), and fastened by
four nails, as was the
ancient tradition, and
as Gregory of Tours
teaches: "Clavorum
ergo dominicorum
gratia quod qratuor
fuerint hsec est ratio:
duo sunt affixi in
palmis. et duo in
plantis" ("De Gloria
Martyrum", I, vi, in
P. L., XXI, 710).
The liist objections and obstacles to the realistic reproduction of the Crucifixion dis- appeared in the be- ginning of the eighth century. In the ora- tory built by Pope John VII in the Vati- can, A. D. 705, thecru- cifix was represented realistically in mosaic. Die altchristliche Prachtthiire But the figure was robed, as we may learn from the
drawings made by Grimaldi in the time of Paul V,
when the oraton,- was pulled down to make room for
the modern facade. Part of such a mosaic still exists in
the grottoes at the ^'atican similar in treatment to
that of John VII. Belonging to the same centurj',
though dating a little later, is the image of the Cruci-
. _ fied discovered a few years ago in the apse of the old
relief und die Thuren von Sta. Sabina in Rom" in church of S. Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum
" Jahrbuch derkonigl. preussischen Kunstsammhmgen
XVI (1893), 6,5-81; Ehrhard, "Prachtthiire von S.
Sabina in Rom und die Domthiire von Spalato" in
"Ephemeris Spalatensis" (1894), 9 sqq.; Grisar,
" Kreuz und Kreuzigung auf der altchristl. Thiire
von S. Sabina in Rom (Rome, 1894); Dobbert, "Zur
This remarkable picture, now happily recovered, was
visible for a little while in the month of May, 1702,
and is mentioned in the diary of Vale.sio. It dates
from the time of Pope St. Paul I (7.')7-76S), and stands
in a niche above the altar. The figure is draped in a
long tunic of a greyish-blue colour, is verj' lifelike, and
Entstehungsgcschichte des Crucifixes" in "Jahrb. der has wide-open eyes. The soldier Longinus is in the
preuss. Kunstsammlungen", I (1880), 41-50. act of woundingthe side of Christ with'the lance. On