About the child w/ cross nimbus at H.L.--yes exactly right about
age, but I would say here we are asked to see the figure as representing
the divine Christ rather than the human Jesus, or rather to see both the
human and the divine in one (collasping the present with future
embodiment). The idea of a youthful Christ comes out of early christian
examples, mainly or at least many from sarcophagi that show a beardless
Jesus usually w/o a nimbus/halo in his role as teacher and miracle worker,
rather than the law-giver/exactor of Last Judgement theme.
Thank you Jim for giving a very concise summary of early examples
of the cross-in-nimbus motif.
As for origins of the idea of a cross or cruciform nimbus. . . well, in
looking at a handy xerox (Paul-Albert Fevrier, Sarcophages d'Arles, Cong.
Archeol., 1976) that happened to fall out of my filing cabinet (and which
has been kicking around for weeks because I didn't get around to refiling
it), there is an interesting sarcophagus (the Sarcophagus of Geminus, 5th
c, at Saint-Trophime) with a bearded (not youthful) Christ enthroned
between two figures identified as Peter and Paul. A cross is placed atop
his head, with a rounded mandorla at his back. One might see this as an
early stage in the development of a cross nimbus in the west?
(The example of a Byz. icon or icon-like image, as at Hosios
Loukas, needs to be considered in light of Orthodox theology--outside of my
area--and the development of the nimbus in that tradition.)
At 08:57 AM 10/20/00 -0500, you wrote:
>A crossed nimbus is a stylistic convention used to identify the person of
>Christ. This is especially helpful when there are many bearded holy people
>depicted in a scene. The cross is inscribed within the nimbus and can be
>distinguished by contrasting color or outline. In response to an earlier
>entry in this thread I found a cross nimbus on the Christ Child of the 11th
>c. Virgin and Child mosaic in the Katholikon, Hosios Loukas, Greece.
>Obviously, this Christ is far more youthful than that shown in the Last
>Supper. There are still the questions of where and when the convention
>originated and how widely it was used.
>
>"Christopher M. Mislow" wrote:
>
> > The current discussion regarding the frequency of a Cross Nimbus raises,
> > for me, an embarrassing confession of ignorance; i.e., exactly what is a
> > Cross Nimbus? (I have been unable to locate a photograph or diagram, but
> > would assume -- from "nimbus" -- a cross with trefoils at the extremities,
> > similiar to a Cross Botontée.)
> >
> > --Christopher
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