An altar cross is placed in the altar of a church, on the Holy table. Along with the antimins, a special piece of cloth, and the Gospel, it is the main attribute of the altar in the church. The cross is used during services when the priest blesses church members, as well as in the course of confessions, communion, baptizing, and wedding.
Altar Cross
Creation period
Late 18th century
Dimensions
35.6x16.9 cm
Technique
Wood, tempera
Collection
Exhibition
3
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Altar Cross
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The cross from the collection of the Rybinsk Museum Preserve was made at the end of the 18th century, presumably, by craftsmen from the city of Romanovo-Borisoglebsk, which is now called Tutaev. Romanovo style of painting is characterized by diminutiveness, thin lines, and careful depiction of architectural objects.
#4
The cross has an eight-point shape. Such a shape of the cross was popular among the Popovtsy Old Believers. It was a name for those Old Believers who recognized priests. On the upper beam it was written Jesus Christ, the King of Judea; the hands of the Saviour are nailed to the middle horizontal beam and His feet rested on the lower inclined beam.
#5
Icon painters used tempera. To produce it, they mixed powered color pigments with specially prepared egg yolk. Egg yolk was separated from egg white, stewed in a warm place and then mixed with a small quantity of water or bread kvass. Sometimes some linseed oil was added. Due to eggs, paints became glutinous, rapidly drying, resistant to water and color fading.
The upper part depicts God the Father among cloud; from Him the Holy Spirit is descending to the crucified Jesus in the form of a white dove. The upper beam depicts worshipping angels, the middle one — an image of the Theotokos on the left and an image of John the Theologian on the right. On the inclined beam is placed an image of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Its massive dome has a hint of the shapes of the Resurrection Church of the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow. The Resurrection Church recreated the beliefs of the time about the look of the Сhurch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
This altar cross was stored in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Rybinsk and after the October Revolution it was delivered to the museum.
The upper part depicts God the Father among cloud; from Him the Holy Spirit is descending to the crucified Jesus in the form of a white dove. The upper beam depicts worshipping angels, the middle one — an image of the Theotokos on the left and an image of John the Theologian on the right. On the inclined beam is placed an image of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Its massive dome has a hint of the shapes of the Resurrection Church of the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow. The Resurrection Church recreated the beliefs of the time about the look of the Сhurch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
In the lower part one can see the Instruments of Christ’s Passions: whips, birches, the Crown of Thorns, pincers, a bag with thirty pieces of silver and others.
This altar cross was stored in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Rybinsk and after the October Revolution it was delivered to the museum.
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Rybinsk Museum Preserve
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Altar Cross
Creation period
Late 18th century
Dimensions
35.6x16.9 cm
Technique
Wood, tempera
Collection
Exhibition
3
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