Antique French Dark Patinated Altar Corpus Christi Hardwood Cross & Base C1900

This is a distinctive antique French dark patinated altar Corpus Christi of Christ crucified on a hardwood cross, circa 1900 in date.

The details are very impressive, the Corpus Christi is very life-like, wearing a flowing linen cloth, his eyes closed and head upper-turned.

The hardwood cross and stepped base are highly evocative featuring suggestive stylized thorns - hence, recalling the woven crown of thorns that was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to the crucifixion. Pieces like these really are in a class of their own, as such, work beautifully anywhere.

The craftsmanship is second to none throughout all aspects of this magnificent altar Corpus Christi which is sure to add an unparalleled touch of sacred art to your home.

Condition:

In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 28 x Width 18 x Depth 9

Dimensions in inches:

Height 11.0 x Width 7.1 x Depth 3.5

The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus, is the best-known symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix (a cross that includes a corpus, usually a three-dimensional representation of Jesus' body) and to the more general family of cross symbols, the term cross itself being detached from the original specifically Christian meaning in modern English (as in many other western languages).

The basic forms of the cross are the Latin cross with unequal arms (?) and the Greek cross (?) with equal arms, besides numerous variants, partly with confessional significance, such as the tau cross, the double-barred cross, triple-barred cross, cross-and-crosslets, and many heraldic variants, such as the cross potent, cross patte, cross moline, cross fleury, etc.

For a few centuries, the emblem of Christ was a headless T-shaped Tau cross rather than a Latin cross. Elworthy considered this to originate from pagan druids who made Tau crosses of oak trees stripped of their branches, with two large limbs fastened at the top to represent a man's arm; this was Thau or god.

Our reference: A1028

Internal Ref:

A1028

Date of manufacture : 1900