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Cypress cross in a metal frame.

Cypress cross in a metal frame.

Inv. #
М-86
Dimensions
36.2 × 28 × 2 cm
Materials

Description

An altar cross, four-armed, of cypress, in a shaped metal frame. On the front is the scene "The Crucifixion" against a backdrop of city buildings. Above the Crucifixion is the figure of God Sabaoth in a gesture of blessing, amid diverging rays, with a triangular halo around his head. Below the Crucifixion is a depiction of the Head of Adam at Golgotha. On the left arm is depicted the Mother of God, and on the right, John the Baptist. On the lower, elongated arm is the figure of Saint Nicholas, blessing with his right hand and holding the Gospel in his left. 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 with a cloth, to the right John the Baptist; on the upper arm, the Holy Spirit as a dove in radiance; on the lower arm, Saint Barbara with a cup in her hand. The metal frame has a developed Baroque-Rococo silhouette, with curvilinear finials on the arms, lavish shell- and floral-shaped scrollwork, a row of pearl beading along the inner border of the carved fields, and radiating "rays" extending from the arms.

The cross belonged to the pre-war (pre-1941) part of the collection of the H. S. Skovoroda Historical Museum. It was evacuated in 1941 and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.