TO UNDERSTAND THE SCENE

The Crucifixion; Hans MEMLING; 1491; oil on oak; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

Web Gallery of Art

After his condemnation, Jesus is taken away to be crucified; he carries his cross.

The Gospel according to Luke, chapter 23

And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, who also bewailed and lamented him…
And there were also two other malefactors, led with him to be put to death. (Luke 23:26-32)

The Gospel according to Mark, chapter 15   

And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he did not take it…
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right , and the other on his left. (Mark 15:23-27)

The Gospel according to Luke, chapter 23

And one of the malefactors who were hanged railed at him, saying, If you are Christ, save yourself and us.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying : "Do you not fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said to Jesus : "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus said to him : "Verily I say to you, Today you shall be with me in paradise."  (Luke 23:39-43)

The Gospel according to Mark, chapter 15

 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
And when the centurion, who stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God !" (Mark 15:33-39)
  

Comment
 

 The way of the Cross which goes from the Roman governor’s residence, Pontius Pilatus' praetorium down to Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, is the way of suffering (or the way of grief), the via dolorosa. It is a real way but also the allegorical way of human condition.

According to the manner in which the character is considered, one can say: the Jew Jesus dies on a Roman cross, the just man dies of a horrible and infamous death; Christ Messiah, the lamb of God, sacrifices himself voluntarily; the Son of God, the New Adam, is raised as a sign of salvation for all men. The cross remains a scandal and a mystery.

CROSSES

Two fairly close crucifixions though four centuries have elapsed between them

Two peculiar crucifixions: the Protestant Cranach calls to conversion the soldiers of his time. For Chagall, Jesus is a pious Jew once again put to death when innocent Jews are massacred in the pogroms.

Triple crucifixions in which the thieves are not nailed but simply tied on pieces of trees; Christ’s cross is also made up of branches in Baldung.

In both works, the contrast between the characters present and the sky can be accounted by the fact that, in Baldung, Jesus is tortured to death whereas in Antonello da Messina he is already dead

Christ’s blood is a symbol of life and redemption. These works are made for meditation; that is why Fra Angelico adds St Dominic at the foot of the cross.

The bearing of the cross towards Calvary, the weight of the cross grows over the centuries.

Jesus falls during the ascent to Calvary; these additions correspond to the stations of the way of the cross, a liturgical practice that has developed since the 15^th century after the visions of St Brigit of Sweden.

A theological connection: the death of Christ, the New Adam, destroys Adam’s sin, but also a legendary closeness since the wood of the cross is said to have been cut from the tree grown on Adam’s tomb.

The crucified Christ dominates the world he saves.

The Way of the Cross

This a religious practice that the Franciscan Friars have developed since the 15^th century after the visions of St Brigit of Sweden.

On Good Friday afternoon, they lived again the scene by miming it; members of the clergy and lay people carried the cross in turns. Recently this practice has been renewed, in particular on the hill of Montmartre in Paris.

The Way of the Cross of Sacro Monte,
 17^th century, Varese, Italy.
 Site

The procession stops 14 times, hence the term of stations, to live again the great moments of Christ’s Passion, from his condemnation to death to his entombment. The stages can be materialised by crosses, chapels… along a steep incline called the via dolorosa (The Way of Grief). These stations are also represented on the walls of every Catholic church, either by more or less realistic pictures or sculptures, or by simple numbered crosses.

“to bear one’s cross” has become a popular phrase to designate the trials that life imposes.

Good Friday, the day when Christ’s death is celebrated, is a bank holiday in many countries; it is a day of mourning and meditation.

In the old days, the bells were not rung, public entertainments were closed and one abstained from eating meat. The habit of eating fish on Friday has remained; on the contrary, the consumption of meat on Good Friday had taken an anti-religious meaning.

To cross oneself means to make the sign of the cross on one’s body while proclaiming God one and Three: God the Father, when touching one’s forehead, God the Son, one’s heart; and God the Spirit, both shoulders from left to right (Orthodox Christians make the same gesture, but from right to left).

The cross has become the symbol of Christians and, to some extent, has remained a sign of Western civilisation.

As Europe has been shaped by centuries of Christianity, the cross can be found everywhere: on flags and on money pieces; on medals; at street corners, in the plans of churches, in churchyards and particularly military cemeteries. Similarly, the International Red Cross is a non-religious institution that bears the name of Red Crescent in Islamic countries.

The cross is not a Christian creation and its form is quite varied. It can be found among Egyptians (ankh cross), among the Latin people (tau cross), among Indians (the svastika is a sign of eternity which the Nazis have turned into the gamma cross of evil memory)… but Christians have multiplied its forms; potent cross, cross Moline, cross tréflée… St Andrew’s cross, Maltese cross, cross of Lorraine… Greek cross, Russian Orthodox cross… and even Huguenot cross for French Protestants.

Different forms of crosses

The instruments of the Passion

In some villages, a certain number of crosses show the instruments of the Passion around their arms: the crown of thorns, the column, the whip, the sponge and the spear are always present but one can also find the ladder of the Deposition, Peter’s rooster… as if they were the heraldic arms of Christ.

The cross of the Passion at Pomayrols, France
 Site

Before the 5^th century, the cross was symbolical and Jesus’ presence was evoked only by that of a lamb, the spotless victim. The infamous torture of the cross was still too fresh in memories for the object to become a religious sign.

The first representation of the crucifixion was that of the gate of Saint Sabine Basilica in Rome dating back to the end of the 5^th century. Jesus has his arms open, with the thieves, but the wood of the cross is not represented.

Between the 6^th and the 11^th century, Christ appeared on the wood of the cross but alive (with his eyes open) and triumphant, often bearded; he wears a tunic and a crown. If he is nailed, it is with 4 nails, one for each limb.

From the middle of the 11^th century or a little later in Italy, Christ was represented dead on the cross, with closed eyes, with his head leaning to the right and often wearing a crown of thorns, with some blood running down from his pierced side.

The presence of Mary and the apostle John on each side of Christ can take different forms including that of two separate statues.

The presence of the dove of the Holy Ghost above the cross recalls God’s manifestations at the Baptism of Christ; it is rarer.

See Baptism of Christ

It is to be noted that the cross is most often in timber wood but it is sometimes verdant like a tree of life with its branches, and even alive with four arms. Jesus is nailed on it with 4 nails, two in the middle of his palms and one for each foot, but after the 13^th century, both feet are put together with only one nail.

In the 16^th century, the Protestant reformation refused to represent Christ on the Cross which became again bare and emblematic.

Catholics kept the nailed body (with 3 or 4 nails) but, according to the periods, death was either very explicit, or only suggested.

This Christ by Germaine Richier caused a scandal at the time