Altar cross

An altar cross, metal, four-armed, with widened rectangular arms. Fixed to the ends of the upper and side arms are finials in the form of openwork Baroque volutes. Between the arms are applied radiant rays. At the lower end of the vertical arm is a ball, serving as the joint with the handle (now lost). The edges of the front and reverse of the cross are bordered by a continuous chased pearl border (a row of hemispherical beads). On the front of the cross is the composition "The Crucifixion" with attendant figures: at the center, the crucified Christ; to the left and right, the Mother of God and John the Baptist with halos; on the upper arm, a radiant luminary; on the lower arm, Golgotha against a backdrop of churches. On the reverse is the composition "The Theophany (Baptism)": at the center, the naked Christ in the waters of the Jordan, to the left an angel, to the right John the Baptist; on the upper arm, the Holy Spirit as a dove in radiance; on the lower arm, the bank of the Jordan River.

The cross belonged to the pre-war collection of the Sloboda Ukraine Museum named after H. S. Skovoroda. During the Second World War it was evacuated and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.