Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/592

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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