II. DeiaHs. — Until the 11th century Christ was rep- resented as living, and usually with his head crowned with a nimbus or other symbol of his triumphal resur- rection. His head was erect, his eyes open, indicating his divine nature, which is not subject to death ; or, more probably, his triumph over his death. Though Christ was crucified, in accordance with the law, in an entirely naked condition, the earliest crucifixes repre- sent him clothed with a cohbutm^ a tunic without arms, and reaching to the feet. At the close of the 8th cen- tury, this was modified to a tunic bound around the waist and extending about to the knees ; and by the close of the tenth century, the tunic was almost universally contracted to a simple band of cloth around the loins. This has been universally adopted by artists till the present time. The crucifix of the church St. Gen^, at Narbonne, is the only example extant of this type being adopted before the 9th century. A manuscript in the Laurentian library at Florence, dating about the year 1060, contains the first example extant of Christ being represented as dead. All the crucifixes from that time represent the head as drooping, and life as just extinct A stream of blood is sometimes rep-
resented flowing from the bounds in the hands and the side, and falling upon the head of some of the characters represented, symbolizing thus the effects of the atonement. Nearly all of the great artists of the Middle Ages have painted the scene of the crucifixion, these being sometimes their master-pieces. Cimabue and Margaritone, in the 18th century, made the first representatk>ns extant of a crucifix with but three naib, the feet being crossed, in their paintings of the crucifixion in the church of St Maria Novella in Flor- ence. The Romish Church now usually prefers this type of the crucifix, though the former method, adopt- ed by this church also till the 18th century, was with- out doubt the more in accordance with historical accu- racy. The tuppedaneum to support the feet is usually represented, though some later artists have placed a globe in place of this tablet or shelf. The support /or the body has never been represented in art. The title of the cro8$ was placed on a tablet which was attached to the head of the ![' cross. There are but one or two cases in which artists have given the full inscription in the three languages, and these are modem. Many crucifixes have no titles. In most it is indicated by a few meaningless marks. In the Greek Church the monogram of Christ, or I C . . X C, or A,"w, is gener- ally used.
III. Accessories.— ^These are either snch as pertain to the literal circumstances of the crucifixion, or are symbolical figures having reference to the Atonement The Virgin Mary and St. John are often represented as standing one on each side of the cross, with the head bent forward and resting on the hand-~a posture of grief common in all antiquity. The names of the two are usually given either in Latin or Greek. The two soldiers are often given, one holding a lance, and the other the sponge filled with vinegar. The very earli- est crucifixes have not these soldiers, but they became common after the 8th century. A single example ex- ists of their drawing lots for the Saviour's garments. The sun and the moon, the former with a £sce surround- ed by a circle, and giving out rays, and the latter in the form of a crescent, are often given, being to the right and left of the head of the Saviour. These are some- times replaced by two human demi-figures, one with a royal diadem, and the other crowned with a crescent or holding a torch, while both have one hand support- ing the head in an attitude of grief. Rays of light often stream, from both the sun and the moon, upon the fig- ure of Christ These heavenly bodies are considered by many to represent the darkness which suddenly came over nature, concealing the sun and moon. But a better interpretation is that they represent the di- vine and human nature of Christ, as the same figures do on other monuments. The redemption of man from sin by the death of Christ is symbolized in some crucifixes by a naked man rising up from the ground below the cross, while a hand above him is reached out frt>m a cloud. Another represents a man lying on the ground, while a woman, with one knee on the ground, is taking hold of the hand in the cloud. This is to indicate Adam and Eve. A crucifix in St John Lateran, in Rome, has a gate (of paradise) on one side, while on the other is a tree (of good and evil), show- ing that man, lost by partaking of the forbidden fruit, is restored by the cross to the paradise from which he was driven out The emblems of the four evangelists and angels in adoration are often placed near the up- per part of the crucifix. The skull and cross-bones at the foot of the cross is altogether a modem addition. The cracifix of a diptych of Rambona contains a wolf under the cross nourishing Romulus and Remus, sup- posed to symbolize the subjection of the Roman em- pire and the world to the cross of Christ, or to the city of Rome as the seat of the Romish Church. Other symbols reloting to the truths of Christianity, or to the traditions relating to this central event in the his-