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Bone and coral crucifix, Southern Italy, 19th century

Height x width x depth: 21 x 11 x 5 cm. Weight: 120 g.
‘Corpus Christi' in bone, finely carved in the round. Without cross, replaced by a branch made of red Mediterranean coral (Corallium Rubrum), resting on ebonised base. 
Christ is depicted with his head slightly inclined to the right, without halo and crown of thorns. The legs are parallel and slightly bent forward, the feet are placed parallel and nailed by two small nails. The arms are outstretched with open hands, in the centre of which are the marks of the stigmata. The eyes and mouth are half-closed. The loincloth covers every part of the pelvis and is draped horizontally with a side knot.

Separately, one can distinguish a cartouche bearing the Titulus crucis I.N.R.I. (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum, which literally translates as ‘Jesus Nazarene, King of the Jews’), rectangular in shape, arranged horizontally and wavy to evoke a parchment or sheet, and a Vanitas symbolised by the presence of a skull.
The detail of the skull is a typical iconographic element of the crucifixion. Mount Golgotha, the place of executions, owes its name to the term meaning ‘skull’, probably in reference to both its rounded and bare skull-like shape and its function. According to the Golden Legend, Golgotha was the burial place of Adam, and the skull at the base of the cross recalls this very tradition.
23/01/2025 14:09:10
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€ 1.000,00 / 1.500,00
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700,00 €
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Live auction 327

Curiosities from European and Oriental art
Silvers, Ivories, Corals, Icons, and Wunderkammer

Palazzo Caetani Lovatelli, tue 25 February 2025
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