Crucifixion
(Matt. 27:33–56; Mark 15:22–41; Luke 23:33–49; John 19:17–37)

The death of Christ on the cross is the central image in Christian art and the visual focus of Christian contemplation. The character of the image varied from one age to another reflecting the prevailing climate of religious thought and feeling; expressing doctrine by means of symbols and allegory, as in medieval art; or, as in Counter-Reformation painting, serving as a simple aid to devotion by portraying nothing but the solitary figure on the cross; or again, narrating the gospel story in a canvas crowded with people, as in the work of Italian Renaissance artists. The early Church avoided the subject. At the time when Christianity was a proscribed religion under the Romans the crucifixion was represented symbolically by the lamb of Christ juxtaposed with a cross. Even after the age of Constantine the Great, when Christians were allowed to practice their religion without interference, the cross itself was still represented without the figure of Christ. The image of the crucifixion as we know it is first found in the 6th cent. but is rare until the Carolingian era when representations multiplied in ivories, metalwork and manuscripts. At this period there are regularly found those other figures from the gospels which were to become a permanent feature of the crucifixion: the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist, the centurion and the sponge-bearer, the two thieves, the soldiers casting lots. Also seen from this time on either side of the cross are the symbolic sun and moon and the allegorical figures representing the Church and Synagogue; these latter features were however to die out early in the Renaissance. For many centuries the west, under Byzantine influence, represented Christ himself alive and open-eyed, a triumphant Savior wearing a royal crown. In the 11th cent. there appeared a new type, the emaciated figure with its head fallen on one shoulder and, later, wearing the crown of thorns. This version prevailed in western art thereafter.

Some features of the crucifixion bear closely on aspects of Christian doctrine. By sacrificing himself on the cross Christ brought about the possibility of man's redemption, that is to say his delivery from the original sin of Adam which all mankind inherited. Medieval writers set out therefore to establish 'historical' links between the Fall and the crucifixion, maintaining for example that the cross was made from the very wood of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden (or from one that grew from its seed), and that Adam's burial place was at the site of- the crucifixion. The skull commonly seen at the foot of the cross alludes therefore not merely to Golgotha, 'the place of the skull', but represents Adam's own skull. Furthermore, the blood of Christ, shed on the cross, was early understood to have redemptive powers, a concept embodied in the sacrament of Communion. Hence it became customary to represent the stream of blood that issued from the wound in Christ's side being caught in a chalice, the Eucharistic vessel. In these and other ways the image of the crucifixion served as a reminder of Christian teaching.

The following sections describe the more important figures that are seen beside the cross. The subject as a whole lends itself to symmetrical treatment, and there is a marked tendency towards the use of figures in pairs, one balanced against the other on either side of the cross, for example the Virgin and St John. Note also the moral distinction between the right and left sides: good on the right of the Savior, evil on his left, as in the positioning of the penitent and impenitent thieves (2), or the two women who symbolize Church and Synagogue (12).

  1. The cross and the figure of Christ. (a) The cross. In Roman times crucifixion was a widely used form of capital punishment, reserved for baser criminals and slaves. It was probably carried out in a manner rather different from the one to which art has accustomed us. At the site of the execution the upright post (stipes) was already set into the ground, a fixture that could be used more than once. The condemned man was led to the place bearing only the horizontal piece (partibulum) to which his hands were already tied to prevent resistance. On arrival his hands (or wrists) were nailed to the ends of the cross-bar which was then lifted on to the upright. It either rested across the top, to form a 'T', called the tau-cross (from the Greek letter 't') or crux commissa (joined); or was set somewhat lower down, forming the familiar crux immissa (intersecting). In either case the pieces were secured by some form of mortise and tenon. Finally the feet were nailed to the upright. The foot-rest, or suppendaneum was an invention of medieval artists. Though it is customary for the two thieves to be shown tied to the cross, nailing was probably universal. In art up to the 13th cent. the usual number of nails was four (including one for each foot), thereafter with few exceptions it was three, (one foot nailed over the other). The only reference to Christ's nails in the gospels is made by doubting Thomas (John 20:25). Nails as holy relics number well over twenty. In antiquity an inscription (or titulus) stating the nature of the condemned man's offence was hung round his neck as he was led to execution, and was afterwards fixed to the head of the cross. John (19:19-20) tells how Pilate 'wrote an inscription to be fastened to the cross; it read, "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews".. in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.' In Renaissance art it is usually given in Latin only, 'lesus Nazarenus Rex ludaeorum', abbreviated to 'INRI'; it may be seen in full, in three languages, in counter-Reformation painting. In the 13th cent. the cross sometimes assumes the shape of a living tree (lignum vitae), a form that occasionally recurs in later periods. This was the Tree of Knowledge, brought to life again, according to Bonaventura, from whose writings the motif is derived, by the power of the Redeemer's blood, another manner of expressing the relationship between the Fall and the crucifixion. (b) The figure of Christ. As we have seen, artists of the Renaissance and later depicted Christ dead upon the cross. His head inclines on his shoulder, generally to the right. (John, 19:30, states that he 'bowed his head' at the moment of death.) The crown of thorns became widely depicted from the mid-13th cent. when Louis IX, king of France, returned from a crusade to the Near East bringing the holy relic with him. Until the Counter-Reformation it is seldom omitted. The medieval Church debated whether Christ would have been naked on the cross, though the condemned in Roman times generally were. In the very earliest examples he wears, in the east, a long sleeveless garment; elsewhere he has a thin band of cloth extending round the waist and under the crotch, the subligaculum. Either could be correct historically. There is however no sanction for the familiar loincloth, or perizonium, an invention of artists in the early middle ages. See below concerning the wound in Christ's side.

    Persons round the Cross

  2. The two thieves. All four gospels relate that two thieves ('bandits' or 'criminals' in the New English Bible) were crucified with Christ, one on each side. Luke adds that one rebuked the other saying that their punishment was deserved whereas Christ was innocent, and was told by the Savior, 'Today you shall be with me in Paradise.' (In fulfillment of this promise, he was among those rescued by Christ in the Descent into Limbo.) Art, following Luke, distinguished between the penitent and impenitent thief. The good is on Christ's right (the 'good' side); his expression is composed and peaceful where the other's is anguished. The soul of the good is borne away by angels; that of the bad by demons. The Byzantine painters' guide states, 'the thief to the right, a gray-haired man with round beard; he to the left, young and beardless,' but this is by no means always followed in the west. The early Italian Renaissance tended to follow the Byzantine practice of depicting the thieves, like Christ, nailed to their crosses though, conforming to the medieval custom of relating size to sanctity, they were made smaller than the Savior. But in order to differentiate clearly between him and them it became general in the west to show the thieves bound, not nailed. Moreover their crosses, unlike Christ's, became the T-shaped crux commissar from the cross-bar of which they hung by the armpits. They are occasionally blindfold. John tells how the soldiers broke the legs of the thieves to hasten their death. They may be seen in the act of so doing; or the thieves are shown bleeding from leg wounds, motifs found principally in 15th cent. German painting. The names by which they are most generally known, Dismas and Gestas (good and bad), are taken from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus.

  3. The lance-bearer and sponge-bearer. 'When they came to Jesus, they found that he was already dead... One of the soldiers stabbed his side with a lance, and at once there was a flow of blood and water.' (John 19:34). Much legend and speculation surrounded the soldier. He was named Longinus (from the Greek word for a lance) and came to be identified with the centurion in the synoptic gospels (not mentioned by John) who exclaimed, 'Truly this man was a son of God.' The Golden Legend tells that Longinus was cured of blindness by the blood from the wound and was later baptized and martyred. He was canonized . Artists often keep the identities separate, showing both a soldier piercing the side of Christ, and a centurion in armor, perhaps on horseback, with an expression of wonder on his face. The lance-bearer's blindness may be indicated by a bystander guiding his hand. All four gospels mentioned that a sponge soaked in wine and fixed to the end of a cane was offered to Christ just before he died. Legend gave the sponge-bearer the name of Stephaton and medieval art regularly paired him with Longinus. The two, standing symmetrically on either side of the cross and holding up their slender wands, symbolized the Church and the Synagogue, Longinus on the right standing for the Church (see also section 12). The sponge-bearer becomes somewhat rare in Renaissance art but the sponge itself may often be seen upraised among the soldiers' weapons.

  4. The soldiers casting lots. This theme occurs fairly often in all periods of Christian art. John's account (19:23–24) is the fullest and the one generally followed. Having crucified Christ the soldiers divided his clothes into four parts ,one for each soldier.' Of the seamless tunic, woven in one piece, they said, 'We must not tear this; let us toss for it.' They are seen either at the foot of the cross or in a corner of the picture. One is in the act of throwing dice while the others look on. Alternatively they are quarrelling together, one with a drawn knife with which he is about to cut the garment, while another tries to mediate. The number of soldiers varies and may be only three.

  5. The Virgin and St John standing by the cross. This very common scene from the crucifixion was originally intended to express in visual terms the passage from John's gospel (19:26–27) in which Christ, while he still lived, entrusted the Virgin to the care of the apostle John: 'Jesus saw his mother, with the disciple whom he loved standing beside her. He said to her, "Mother, there is your son"; and to the disciple, "There is your mother"; and from that moment the disciple took her into his home.' The pattern became established in the 9th cent. in the art of the Carolingian Renaissance. The Virgin stands on the right of Christ, St John on the left. Their heads are inclined. She may have raised her left hand to her cheek, supporting the elbow with the other hand, a traditional gesture of sorrow that dates back to Hellenistic times. Christ is alive, in conformity with the gospel account and with the prevailing artistic convention. Later, as the living, triumphant figure on the cross gives way to the dead Christ with the wound in his side, so the two figures below manifest grief in a more naturalistic manner, and the strict sense of the gospel is lost. In the 15th cent. the theme tended to be overtaken by that of the Virgin swooning (see next section).

  6. The Virgin swooning; the holy women. There is no biblical sanction for this incident, beloved by Renaissance artists. It is a creation of later medieval monastic preachers and mystical writers. In dwelling on the sorrows of the Virgin it was natural for them to assume that she was overcome with anguish by the events of the Passion. It was told that she swooned three times: on the Road to Calvary, at the crucifixion and after the descent from the cross. The change from the upright, stoically grieving figure of medieval art came about gradually. In earlier examples she is still on her feet but supported in the arms of the holy women or St John; in the 15th cent. she has collapsed to the ground. The motif was explicitly condemned by the Council of Trent who directed artists to John's words (19:25): 'Near the cross... stood his mother.' It is consequently rarely seen after the second half of the 16th cent. The holy women, the companions of the Virgin, are mentioned by all the evangelists but the varying descriptions are difficult to reconcile. Mary whom John calls the wife of Clopas was said to be the same as Mary whom Matthew and Mark call the mother of James and Joseph. Similarly, Salome, mentioned by Mark, was regarded as the same person as the 'mother of Zebedee's children' in Matthew. These two, together with Mary Magdalene, are commonly known as the Three Maries. In art their numbers vary, but they are generally three or four. Their appearance is not clearly differentiated except for Mary Magdalene who, in early Renaissance art, wears red.

  7. Mary Magdalene. It was not until the Renaissance that Mary of Magdala came to be distinguished from the other holy women. As mentioned above, in early works she may sometimes be recognized by her red cloak among those supporting the swooning Virgin, but her typical role throughout Renaissance and Counter-Reformation art shows her as a separate figure, often richly attired and with her usual copious hair, kneeling at the foot of the cross or embracing it in passionate grief. She may kiss the bleeding feet or wipe them with her hair, thus turning the earlier episode in the house of Simon the Pharisee into a prefigurative act. She is even seen catching the drops of blood in her mouth, another reminder of the Eucharist.

  8. Saints and donors. From about the mid-15th cent. may be found a form of the crucifixion in which saints, regardless of the age in which they lived, are assembled together before the cross, in much the same manner as in the Sacra Conversazione which came into being at about this time. It is a devotional treatment of the subject found principally in Italian art. The saints, who can be recognized by their customary attributes, may be the patrons of the city or church, or founders of the Order, for which the work was commissioned; by virtue of this Francis of Assisi, Dominic, Augustine (with Monica) are often to be seen. Jerome and Catherine of Alexandria, perhaps as patrons of learning, are equally common. Sebastian and Roch, protectors against the plague, often accompany a kneeling donor, signifying that the work is a votive offering to the church in thanksgiving for the donor's escape from sickness. John the Baptist may be present either as one of the tutelary saints or for his place in the scheme of Christian belief as the prophet of Christ's divinity and the redemptive sacrifice. ('There is the Lamb of God, it is he who takes away the sins of the world.') The Virgin and St John the apostle are nearly always to be seen standing behind. Symbols and Allegorical Figures

  9. The skull and the serpent. Adam's relevance to the crucifixion through the doctrine of the Redemption and hence the appearance of his skull at the foot of the cross has been mentioned above. It is first seen in the 9th cent. and recurs thereafter throughout Christian art. The skull is frequently sprinkled with the blood that drips from the Savior's body. This symbolic washing away of Adam's sin is particularly a feature of the art of the Counter-Reformation. At the same period the skull may be depicted upside down, as it were a chalice, in which the blood is caught. A serpent with an apple in its mouth, near the skull, is a further allusion to the Fall.

  10. The wound and the chalice. The special significance attaching to the wound in Christ's side and much of the symbolism surrounding it is due first to St Augustine. The 'blood and water' which, according to John, issued from the wound was conceived by him to represent the Eucharist and Baptism. Just as Eve was fashioned from the rib taken from Adam's side, so the two main Christian sacraments flowed from the side of Christ, the 'New Adam'; thus the Church, the 'Bride of the Lord', was born, as it were, from the wound. In the later Middle Ages the figure of Adam, perhaps emerging from the tomb, is seen below the cross, holding a chalice in which he catches the redeeming blood. From the 14th cent. one or more angels, each bearing a chalice, are similarly engaged floating beside the cross, one at each wound. A chalice sometimes stands at the foot of the cross as a reminder of the theme. The wound is generally on the right side of the body, the 'good' side, and, once more according to Augustine, the side of 'eternal life'. By the early 17th cent. this symbolism was forgotten and the wound is found on either side.

  11. Sun and moon. The sun and moon, one on each side of the cross, are a regular feature of medieval crucifixions. They survived into the early Renaissance but are seldom seen after the 15th cent. Their origin is very ancient. It was the custom to represent the sun and moon in images of the pagan sun gods of Persia and Greece, a practice that was carried over into Roman times on coins depicting the emperors. It seems to have found its way into primitive Christian art through the festival of Christmas which took over an existing pagan feast celebrating the rebirth of the sun. Long before the first representations of the crucifixion the sun and moon appeared in other Christian themes: the Baptism, the Good Shepherd, Christ in Majesty. When art began to depict Christ on the cross their appropriateness to the theme was seen to be already established in the Bible and by theologians. The synoptic gospels relate that from midday a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted until three in the afternoon. The eclipse might be simply a sign that the heavens went into mourning at the death of the Savior; but more specifically, according to Augustine, the sun and moon symbolized the prefigurative relationship of the two Testaments: the Old (the moon) was only to be understood by the light shed upon it by the New (the sun): The typology of the Old Testament.) In medieval examples the sun and moon may be represented in their classical forms: the sun as a male figure driving a quadriga, the moon as a female driving a team of oxen, each within a circular disk. (Cf. Apollo: The Sun god.) Or the sun is simply a man's bust with a radiant halo, the moon a woman's with the crescent of Diana. Later they are reduced to two plain disks, the moon having a crescent within the circle, and may be borne by angels. The sun appears on Christ's right, the moon on his left.

  12. Church and Synagogue. The two allegorical figures seen on either side of the cross and standing for the Church and the Synagogue belong strictly to the Middle Ages and are included here as another example of the 'moral symmetry' of the crucifixion. Matthew (27:51) tells how, at the moment of Christ's death, 'the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.' This, in the eyes of Christian commentators, marked the end of the Old Law and the beginning of the reign of the New - the triumph of the Church over the Synagogue. They are portrayed as fully draped female figures. The Church, on the right of the cross, is crowned and holds a chalice in which she catches the Redeemer's blood. The Synagogue, on the left, is blindfold, and her crown falls from her inclined head. The tables of the Law may likewise fall from her hands. The figures first became widespread in the Carolingian Renaissance and are to be found later in the sculpture and stained glass of cathedrals of the 12th and 13th cents.

  13. Pelican. Legend tells how the pelican feeds its young with blood by piercing its breast with its beak. The earliest bestiary, by the anonymous Physiologus, says that the hen smothers her young by her excess of love but the male bird, returning, restores them to life by piercing its side and shedding its blood over them. The image was used as a symbol of Charity in the Renaissance, but just as aptly fitted the concept of the shedding of Christ's blood to redeem mankind. Dante (Paradiso 25: 112) refers to the apostle John as 'he who leant upon the breast of Christ our Pelican.' The bird is sometimes to be seen perched, or nesting with its young, on the top of the cross.

James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, New York: Harper & Row, rev. ed. 1979