Altar cross

An altar cross on a tall, shaped stand. The cross is four-armed, with widened, trilobed finials on the arms, decorated with relief floral ornament — acanthus leaves, floral rosettes, and shell-shaped cartouches. On the front of the cross, at the center, is a depiction of the "Crucifixion" within an enameled medallion. At the ends of the cross and beneath the "Crucifixion" are applied enameled medallions (some of the enamel is partly lost). On the reverse is a depiction of "The Resurrection of Christ." At the ends of the cross and beneath the "Resurrection" are applied enameled medallions depicting scenes from the life of Jesus Christ (some of the enamel is partly lost). The stand of the cross is massive and oval, with a profiled shaft and a flattened, ball-shaped "apple" (knop), entirely covered with a fine floral ornament, with applied cast garlands of flowers and cherubim around its rim. On the knop of the stand, within three oval medallions, is the Church Slavonic inscription: "In the month of December, 1742, this cross was erected at the expense of His Grace Mitrofan..., weighing 1512 [units]." At the center of the base are four enameled medallions (now lost).

The cross was made in 1742 and 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.