Hand Cross (mäsqäl qǝddase or yäǝṭan)

This hand cross is a technical tour de force, inscribed with a rare depiction of Christ and the two thieves. Its form and patterns reflect Ethiopia’s unique Orthodox Christian heritage, of which the cross is the ultimate artistic hallmark. The design of this hand cross is subdivided into three distinct parts: the cross, at its summit; the handle; and a square element at the base. Each of its sides is completely covered by unique incised carvings. These decorative and symbolic forms contrast the sharp with the sinuous, creating a remarkable tension and continuity of design throughout the piece. Each face of the cross at the summit features a different design; one, an image of the crucifixion, the other a series of geometric motifs. While images of the cross are nearly concurrent with Ethiopia’s adoption of Christianity in the early fourth century AD, the earliest known images of the crucifixion (səqlät) in Ethiopian Christian art date to nearly a millennium later, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Early Crucifixions illuminated in thirteenth and fourteenth century manuscripts are characterized by representations of Christ without human suffering; his body is often absent from the cross, or depicted as the Lamb of God. Later, the body of Christ would be reintroduced to the cross, but depicted alive, and without pain. Indeed, one of the earliest examples of this is included in the illuminations of the fourteenth to fifteenth century Ethiopian gospel" in the Met’s collection. Even after this time, Christ was rarely depicted on crosses: as such, this image in which he is represented with the two thieves, may be unique.

All three figures are bearded, the lines of their whiskers indicated with hatched parallel lines. They have wide, curving ribs and loin cloths: those of the thieves drape straight down, while the curving lines of Christ’s flank a central zigzag. Christ appears healthy and muscular, the nails in his hands carved as diminutive circles. His body is small in comparison to his oversized head, crowned by a halo of triangular rays. Though depicted in the last moments of their lives, none seem to suffer; their wounds are bloodless, wide eyes gently closed, and lips restful. In contrast to Crucifixion paintings of the same era, the background is filled by a tight pattern of twinned parallel lines and vertical zigzags, giving the effect of a gauzy fabric enveloping the cross. The author of this work has played with form and composition, using the vertical and horizontal axes of the hand cross and the direction of the pattern to mimic or substitute for the crosses of the condemned. The thieves lift their knees to rest upon the branches of the cross, practically becoming one with them.

The ends of the major cross branch out, terminating with triple buds. In the canon of Ethiopian crosses, naturalistic crosses with curled ends allude to the Tree of Life. Referred to as qärnä bäg’e (or Horn of the Lamb of God), the form originated in the seventeenth century. The carving on the square at the base of the handle varies on each side, its borders, frames, and central crosses playing with negative and positive space to form nearly every variety of cross, from the quatrefoil to the interlace. While interpretations of this square projection vary regionally, it is most commonly described as the tabot, an altar stone that is equivalent to the Ark of the Covenant. Ethiopian sources tell us much about the significance of this form, as well as the meaning of the many carved geometric patterns.

According to the Kəbrä Nägäśt, a fourteenth century account of the origins of the Ethiopian Empire’s Solomonic dynasty, it was Menelik, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who was responsible for bringing the Ark to Ethiopia, where it is said to rest today. The cross contains an additional reference to Solomon on its reverse side. The multi-stranded square interlace design at the center of the reverse cross is referred to as "Solomon’s knots" - a reference to King Solomon of Israel. It too can also be interpreted as a symbol of the cross, and contains yet another pattée cross at its center. In Gə’əz, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church, the term for "wood," kətāp, also means "tree." Through this conflation, the cross in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is not only a reference to the Crucifixion, but also to the tree of life, from which the cross was cut.

The cross was carved from a light, hard wood, and precisely measured to ensure that it balanced properly when held. While most of the cross has darkened to a lustrous red-brown, parts of the grip have lightened from use. Hand crosses are made for daily use by priests and monks, as well as for use during the liturgy and for blessings. Larger wooden crosses, such as this example, were used during the holy liturgy, and were given specific names according to their use. These crosses could either be used by officiating priests (mäsqäl qǝddase, liturgy cross), carried during the burning of incense and the blessing of the faithful (yäǝṭan, incense cross), or used during the liturgical dances of unordained clerics. They are held in the right hand as a sign of identification, and to perform religious duties, as seen in a seventeenth century triptych of Ethiopian Orthodox monks. The hand cross was thus both a symbol and a working tool of the faith; this example must have been especially valued, as it was carefully repaired with a metal plaque.

The priest who first used this cross was likely its maker. We don’t know his name, but the intricacy and innovation of its form speaks to both his talent and his devotion. He likely worked at the remote monastery of Gunda Gunde, located in a mountainous part of northern Ethiopia called Tigray. Gunda Gunde is among the most remote of the region’s monasteries, and one of its greatest troves of Ethiopian Christian heritage, boasting the country’s largest active monastic library. In the eighteenth century, when this hand cross was likely carved, Ethiopia was in the midst of an artistic and architectural renaissance. The high nobility donated both wood and metal crosses to churches. While metal crosses were made in workshops, wooden crosses like this were made by individuals, and reflected the individual creativity of their maker.

Kristen Windmuller-Luna, 2016
Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Further Reading
Chojnacki, Stanislaw, and Carolyn Gossage. Ethiopian Crosses: A Cultural History and Chronology. Milano: Skira, 2006.

Gnisci, Jacopo. "The Dead Christ on the Cross in Ethiopian Art: Notes on the Iconography of the Crucifixion in Twelfth-to Fifteenth-century Ethiopia." Studies in Iconography 35 (2014): 187–228.

Leroy, Jules. L'Ethiopie: Archéologie et culture. Paris: Desclée, De Brouwer et Cie, 1973, figs. 89–90.

Salvo, Mario Di. Crosses of Ethiopia: The Sign of Faith: Evolution and Form. Milano: Skira, 2006.