Crux Vaticana

The Crux Vaticana ( Cross of Justin II , Vatican Cross ) in the collection of the Church Treasury of St. Peter (Tesoro di San Pietro) is a lecture cross and at the same time a reliquary of the Holy Cross . It is one of the oldest reliquaries of this kind. It is a gem cross made of gold-plated silver, adorned with jewels in gold settings. The cross was made in the 6th century and given to the Roman people by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justin II (565-578) and his wife and co-regent Sophia . The cross bears a Latin inscription: " ligno quo Christ humanum subdidit hostem dat Romae Iustinus opem et socia decorem " ( Eng : with the wood with which Christ subjugated the enemy of man, Justin gives his help for Rome and his wife donates the jewelry to.)

layout

The original setting of the cross is 40 cm high and 30 cm wide, without the thorn that holds it on its base. The cross has been edited and changed several times throughout history. Among other things, its size was reduced. The cross has no figurative representations on the front. In the middle is a medallion that contains the actual relic, which is itself arranged in a cross shape. The inscriptions are placed on the arms of the cross and the edges bear the gold-set jewels, with four stones hanging down as pendilies from the crossbar. The back is made of chased silver and shows an interesting transition phase of the decoration. At the time of its creation, the Church began promoting depictions of the human form of Christ . Therefore, one of the earliest depictions of a crucifix can be found on the back . In the medallion in the middle, the Lamb of God can still be seen, an older depiction. Above and below are two representations of Christ (the lower one may depict John the Baptist ). In the image above, Christ as Pantocrator holds a book in his hand, namely the Gospels . The figure below performs a gesture of blessing . At the end of the cross arms there are portrait medallions of Justin and Sophia. Between the medallions there are decorative leaf motifs that are reminiscent of onions and possibly represent palm trees.

Similar Lombard cross with coins from Justin II. 6th century

history

It has been proven that Justin and Sophia in 569 sent a relic of the Holy Cross to the Franconian Princess Radegundis , who founded a monastery in Poitiers to keep the relic. The event was narrated in the Vexilla Regis by Venantius Fortunatus . It also shows that they have relics to John III. (561-574) sent in an effort to improve relationships. In fact, the Crux Vaticana most likely dates back to 568/569. For a long time it was assumed that, based on the headdress, Justin I (518-27) and his Empress Euphemia were the givers, but this hypothesis has been largely rejected today.

The cross was restored in 2009 and exhibited in St. Peter's Basilica from November 2009 to April 2010.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Vatican / Associated Press, November 2009
2. ↑ Vatican Museums
3. ^ Vatican / Associated Press, November 2009
4. ^ Vatican / Associated Press, November 2009
5. ↑ Vatican Museums
6. ↑ McClanan, 167-8
7. ↑ Illustrated Cotsonis, 58
8. ↑ McClanan, 167
9. ^ JB Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire , Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1923. This thesis goes back to the German historian Delbrück .
10. ^ Vatican / Associated Press, November 2009

literature

• Anne L. McClanan: Representations of early Byzantine empresses: image and empire , Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. ISBN 0-312-29492-1 , ISBN 978-0-312-29492-2 , google books
• John Cotsonis: Byzantine Figural Processional Crosses , Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1994. ISBN 0-88402-228-5
• Sante Guido: La Crux Vaticana o Croce di Giustino II , Città del Vaticano, Edizioni Capitolo Vaticano, 2009. ISBN 978-88-6339-005-6

Web links

• High resolution image of the Crux Vaticana
• Newspaper report of The Daily Telegraph about the restoration of 19 November of 2009.