The Figure-Sculpture: Crucifixion 267 



Anderson has sEown that the Crucifixion, when occurring on Scot- 

 tish crosses, is always late, belonging to his Class III. The appear- 

 ance of the sun and moon, as on the Ruthwell Cross, indicates 

 a date later than the 9th centur\^ 



The crucifixion occurs but rarely on the Scottish monuments with 

 Celtic ornamentation, though it is a general feature of the high 

 crosses of Ireland, and common on the later crosses of the West High- 

 lands. It is a remarkable fact that the symboUsm of the monuments 

 of Class II., which always includes the cross itself in a decorated or 

 glorified form, never includes the crucifixion, which only appears on 

 a fcAv of the later monuments of Class III. . . . From the ninth century 

 the sun and moon usually accompanied the representations of the ■ 

 crucifixion, the sun being placed on the right and the moon on the 

 left over the arms of the cross. . . . On the lower panel of the Ruth- 

 well cross and at Craignarget in Wigtownshire the sun and moon appear 

 as two orbs over the arms of the cross. ^ 



An important criterion of the age of a sculptured crucifix is the 

 length of the tunic. 



In the tenth century crucifixes are occasionally seen, but the coun- 

 tenance of the crucified Lord is gentle and benevolent; he is also clad 

 in a long robe with sleeves, the extremities of the arms and legs only 

 being uncovered. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the robe 

 becomes shorter, the sleeves disappear, and the breast is already 

 uncovered in some instances, the robe being scarcely more than a 

 tunic. In the thirteenth century the tunic is as short as possible.- 



Now on the Ruthwell Cross the left shoulder and part of the upper 

 arm are bare, and the legs are bare from above the knee. Other 

 characters point to the later period— the head inclined to the right, 

 and the feet nailed separately.^ The 12 th century, then, seems a 

 probable date for this Crucifixion. 



^ Anderson, Early Christ. Mon. of Scotland, pp. xLViii-XLix. In his earher 

 work, Scotland in Early Christ. Times (1881), Anderson had not recognized 

 that the Ruthwell Cross bore the Crucifixion. He says (2. 234) : ' The first 

 panel contains a simple cross of plain Latin form.' Browne recognized 

 it in his Theodore and Wilfrith, where he says (p. 245) : ' At the bottom it 

 is possible to see the crucifixion.' 



2 Didron 1. 259, 260; cf. Caumont 1. 173, 232-3, 24L 

 ^ Cf. the Crucifixion of the 12th century, from the church of Lillers, 

 figured in Caumont 1. 173, and that in Lacroix, Arts in the Middle Ages, 

 p. 474. Among paintings, the fresco of the lower church of San Clemente. 

 at Rome, attributed to the 9th century, agrees in several important respects ; 

 it lacks the sun and moon, and has well defined figures of the Virgin and 

 St. John, rising nearly to the arms of the cross. 



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