270 General Discussion of the Crosses 



Finally, Christ, with the same attributes and in the same attitude, 

 is sometimes found as an isolated figure (designated by some as 

 Christ-Man, or Christ teaching) . Typical figures of this sort are those 

 on the trumeau of the central door of the south porch at Chartres, 

 and the corresponding Beau Dieu of Amiens — a type not fully 

 adopted till the 13th century.^ Marriage thus describes the figure at 

 Chartres : ' On the trumeau is a magnificent statue of Christ (plate 

 109) ; His right hand is raised in blessing, His left holds the Book of 

 Life. He is standing on a lion and a dragon — ^the two usually selected 

 from the four animals of Ps. XCI. 13 : ' Super aspidem et basiUsc- 

 um ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem.'^ The earliest 

 example of this seems to be an ivory statuette of the 10th century.^ 



There are three Christs, of the general type last described, on the 

 Ruthwell and Bewcastle crosses, one of them being in the panel 

 which depicts the anointing of Christ's feet. In the group of the anoint- 

 ing, Christ carries .a book in his left hand ; in the other case, a roll. 

 The Bewcastle figure has a roll. The faces of the Ruthwell Cross 

 are bearded ; that of the Bewcastle beardless. All the heads have 

 the cruciform nimbus, and the hair is long in all three, but the arrange- 

 ment of the drapery differs. The beasts seem somewhat better defined 

 on the Bewcastle Cross ; they have been called swine in both cases, 

 but may they not be rude animal-heads, intended to represent those 

 of Ps. 91. 13, but not well wrought, and further defaced by exposure 

 to the elements ? The type of the isolated figure can hardly have 

 been created in monumental sculpture before the 12th century. 



2. GROUPS BELONGING TO CHRISTIAN LEGEND 

 Christian legend is represented by the one group of Paul the 

 Hermit and St. Anthony. 



Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony.* 



On two capitals of the abbey of Vezelay were sculptured, about 

 the year 1135, scenes from the life of Paul, the first hermit (228—345), 

 and Anthony, the father of monachism (251—356). On one, a pillar 

 of the narthex, is depicted what is believed to be the meeting of the 



1 Viollet-le-Duc 3. 246; cf. p. 240. 



^ At Amiens all four animals are shown ; cf. Ruskin, Works 33. 146. 



^ Didron, Christian Iconography 1. 298. Allen finds a Norman one on 

 a slab built into the tower of New Malton Church, Yorkshire (Early Christ. 

 Symbolism, p. 275). 



* See p. 22, and cf. p. 131, note 7, end. 

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