OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 37 



OBJECTS OF VENERATION AND DEVOTION 



CROSSES AND CRUCIFIXES 



The cross essentially consists of an upright and a transverse piece 

 placed upon one another in various forms; a crucifix is a cross with 

 a figure fixed on it. The cross was a common instrumiCnt of capital 

 punishment among the ancients. It was also and is still a most 

 common religious symbol of pre-Christian and non-Christian reli- 

 gions, and, like the triangle and other geometric figures, it is some- 

 times merely ornamental in origin with no symbolic significance. 

 In Christianity, on account of the death of Christ upon the cross, it 

 became the principal symbol of faith and emblem of salvation. 



There are four principal types of the cross: 1. The Tau cross, 

 (crux commissa), from its form of the Greek Tau T, also called St. 

 Anthony's cross, after the legend that St. Anthony (about 251-356) 

 exterminated the idols of Egypt with such a cross; it is the earliest 

 form of the cross. 2. The equilateral or Greek cross, where two 

 equal arms cross one another at right angles in the middle. 3. St. 

 Andrew's cross {crux decussata) when two shafts of equal length are 

 crossed diagonally in the middle, X , so called because the Apostle 

 St. Andrew" is supposed to have been martyred upon such a cross. 

 4. The Latin cross (crux immissa, or capitata) in which the upright 

 is longer than the transverse beam and is crossed by it near the 

 top, ~|~. It is the form supposed to have been used in the crucifixion 

 of Christ. A variety of this cross is the Lorraine or Jerusalem 

 cross, with two transverse bars, the upper one shorter than the 

 lower —j— , so-called, because Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, 

 when chosen by the Crusaders as the first king of Jerusalem (1C99), 

 adopted this cross. It is also called the cardinal cross, because it 

 is one of the distinctive insignia of cardinals and archbishops. 



110. Processional cross.— M&de oi bronze. With trefoil ends (cross 

 hotone). From the four angles of the junction of the two beams 

 issue rays. Above is a tablet with the title: J N R J, the initials of 

 Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the 

 Jews), the inscription Pilate is recorded to have placed upon the 

 cross of Christ (John xix, 19-20). With a socket for inserting a 

 pole. Church processions are alwa^^s headed by a cross fastened 

 on a pole. Height, 33 inches. From a church of Santo Domingo, 

 Valley of Mexico. (Plate 16, Cat. No. 158316, U.S.N.M.) 



111. Processional (?) cross. — Made of bronze, richly adorned in 

 chased and hammered work. At the ends are medallions repre- 

 senting, respectively: On top, God the Father holding in the left 

 hand a cross and with the right giving the blessing; to the right, 

 Mary; to the left, probably John the Baptist; and below, John the 

 Evangelist, holding the cup of the Eucharist. The figure of Christ 



