Crucifix

The mahogany wood crucifix was given a very complex and elaborate form. The bronze figure of crucified Christ was placed at the front. Above it, in the wood of which the cross is made, emerges the semi-plastic figure of God the Father shown in a sitting position. He directs his gaze towards his Son. He holds a ball representing the Earth, and at his feet we can see the dove of the Holy Spirit with spread wings. Under the figure of Christ, a relief showing the figure of Our Lady of Sorrows standing under the Crucified was created similarly to the representation of God the Father. A sword pierces her chest, reflecting the words described in the Gospel: ‘so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ (Lk 2, 34a. 35). The crucifix has the profile of a 3.5 cm deep rectangle. Such depth is explained by the fact that relics of Saints were placed in the carved-out structure of the crucifix that opens from its rear side. They are put into the central part, i.e., the main arm of the cross, covered on the outside with a movable wooden lid decorated with a relief with motifs of symbols of the Lord’s Passion. From the bottom, these are: a hand (symbol of the washing of hands by Pilate), a robe, dice, a ladder, a cross, a reed stick, a spear, a hyssop with a sponge, nails, a veraicon, a rooster, a titulus (INRI). Relics of Saints form an integral part of embroidery from a golden pond, on a fabric of red ribbon. Between fragments of embroidery, there were two white pebbles (presumably white sapphires) and small woven nets with relics (fragments of bones) of represented Saints, which were marked with small ribbons with signatures: S. Basili, S. Antoni, S. Urban, S. Cirenai. The cross is suspended on a metal ring that is attached to an ivory plaque. Similar crucifixes, where Relics of Saints are hidden in the body, were a popular object of personal devotion in the 18th century in the territory of modern Germany, which is reflected by a large number of similar objects that have survived there. They differ from the piece in the Wilanów collection with regard to the material from which the figure of Christ is made. In contrast to the Wilanów object, where the casting is made of bronze, the figure of the Crucified is carved in wood, as in the case of God the Father and Our Lady of Sorrows, in a majority of similar cases.