Cross-shaped Patch

The patch, embroidered on a stiff paper base with twisted silver metal thread and spangle, reproduces the form of a four-armed, equal-sided cross, at the ends of whose arms are cross-shaped, diamond-form figures with a Greek cross set into them. The same cross is placed at the crossing of the patch.

The patch was donated to the museum by Kylyna Ivanivna Tykhova of Kharkiv in 1989.

Note: the Greek cross became established in Christian tradition in Byzantium and the Orthodox Church. Its vertical line symbolizes the divine world, and its horizontal line the earthly. It is an ancient symbol also signifying the harmony of spirit and matter, balance, and the four directions of the world.