Crucifix

probably Italian

Not on view

The subtle modeling of Christ's elongated limbs and the virtuoso undercutting of his hair and crown of thorns point to the hand of an accomplished sculptor. The elaborate terminal ornaments on the ends of the arms of the cross appear on a number of ivory crucifixions from Italy. The name of the site where the Crucifixion took place, Golgotha or Calvary, means "place of the skull"; sculptures depicting the ground below the cross often show a skull, here lost.

Crucifix, Corpus: ivory; cross: ebony and ivory, probably Italian

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.