Monday, February 22, 2016

Quadrant Model of Reality Book 4 Art

Art Chapter


In fraternal usage, the skull and crossbones – along with full skeletons and the skull alone – are a very common motif due to their common association with death. The significance of these symbols varies from group to group. For some, they are a symbolic reminder of mortality. For others, the symbol has a religious reference (as with the Masonic Knights Templar, for which the skull and bones symbolize Golgotha, the place of Jesus' crucifixion). Another common fraternal use is one of warning wherein the skull and crossbones symbolize a dire warning against betraying the group's secrets and/or failing to keep one's oath.


The skull and crossbones was a common fraternal motif as a symbol of mortality and warning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The symbol was adopted, for various reasons, by many sporting teams, clubs and societies in both America and Europe.

Adoption by societies Edit

The skull and crossbones motif was used by many American college fraternities, sororities and secret societies founded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The most well-known example of this usage is the Skull and Bones society, a secret society at Yale University which derives its very name from the symbol. Other well-known college fraternal organizations which use the skull and bones in some capacity in their public symbols include, but are not limited to: Delta Sigma Pi, Kappa Sigma, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Phi Kappa Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Chi Psi and Zeta Beta Tau Fraternities and Sigma Sigma Sigma and Chi Omega Sororities. Other fraternal groups also use the skull and crossbones in their symbolism or in their secret fraternal rituals. These groups include the Knights of Columbus as well as the Knights Templar degree of Freemasonry.[citation needed]


As the skull-and-crossbones symbol has also entered popular culture in the context of piracy, and since cartoonish pirates have become popular characters with children, there have been concerns that the "poison" symbol might have the effect of attracting the curiosity of small children familiar with "pirates" as depicted as a toy or play theme. For this reason, in the United States there has been a proposal to replace the skull and crossbones by the "Mr. Yuk" symbol. However, Mr. Yuk and his graphic rendering are registered trademarks and service marks of his creator, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and the rendering itself is additionally protected by copyright. This means that the name and graphic image cannot be used without a license from the owner—unlike the Skull and crossbones, which is in the public domain.


The skull and bones are often used in military insignia, e.g. in coats of arms of some military regiments.

Symbol for poison Edit

In 1829, New York State required the labeling of all containers of poisonous substances. The skull and crossbones symbol appears to have been used for that purpose since the 1850s. Previously a variety of motifs had been used, including the Danish "+ + +" and drawings of skeletons.

In the 1870s poison manufacturers around the world began using bright cobalt bottles with a variety of raised bumps and designs (to enable easy recognition in the dark) to indicate poison, but by the 1880s the skull and cross bones had become ubiquitous, and the brightly coloured bottles lost their association.


The symbol originates with the medieval Danse Macabre symbolism. By the 15th century, the symbol had developed into its familiar form. It is used in military flags or insignia, expressing the recklessness or ferocity of the unit displaying it, since at least the 15th century and becomes associated with piracy in particular in the 18th. It came to be used specifically to mark the entrances of Spanish cemeteries. The use of the symbol to mark poison dates to the 19th century.


The skull-and-crossbone symbol in origin depicts the typical arrangement of skulls and humeri in ossuaries, as in the depicted example from Sedlec (Czech Republic).


A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under the skull.[1] The design originates in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a memento mori on tombstones.

In modern contexts, it is generally used as a warning of danger, usually in regard to poisonous substances, such as deadly chemicals.[2]

Unicode uses U+2620 ☠ skull and crossbones (HTML ☠)[3] for the symbol.


A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under the skull.[1] The design originates in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a memento mori on tombstones.

In modern contexts, it is generally used as a warning of danger, usually in regard to poisonous substances, such as deadly chemicals.[2]

Unicode uses U+2620 ☠ skull and crossbones (HTML ☠)[3] for the symbol.


Skull and crossbones is a symbol of a human skull with two long bones crossed below it. It is used in several contexts:

Skull and crossbones (symbol), as a symbol of death and especially as a memento mori on tombstones.
Skull and crossbones (poison), a warning symbol of poisonous substances and danger
Skull and crossbones (military), in variations used by several military forces
Skull and crossbones (fraternities and sports), used also by sororities and secret societies
Skull and crossbones (Spanish cemetery) "campo santo", used to mark the entrances to cemeteries
Unicode represents the symbol "☠" in its Miscellaneous Symbols block.
Skull and crossbones are sometimes shown on a crucifix, referring to Golgotha or Adam's skull.


The best place to hide something is in plain sight- the quadrant model


QMR

Sew on a Two- or Four-Hole Button:
1. First thread the needle. Cut a piece of thread about 24" long. Fold the thread length in half so the two cut ends are together and there is a loop at the opposite end. (We like to use a double length of thread for added security and so you don’t have to make as many passes through your button.)


2. Thread the cut ends through the needle’s eye.


3. Pull about 3 inches of thread tails through the eye.


4. Next position your button where you want it. Holding your button in place with one hand and the needle and thread in the other, it’s time to start sewing. Click the photo below to watch a video of the stitching process.


Screws have quadrant indentations which screw drivers use to twist them into holes

QMR

Shoelaces are full of crossings/quadrants

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Shoelace knot
"Bow knot" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Rosette (decoration).
Shoelace knot
Shoelace knot.svg
Names Shoelace knot, Bow
Category Loop
Related Reef knot
Releasing non-jamming
Typical use Tying shoelaces, bow ties, decorative bows
ABoK #1212, #2403, #2404
The shoelace knot, or bow knot, is commonly used for tying shoelaces and bow ties.

The shoelace knot is a doubly slipped reef knot formed by joining the ends of whatever is being tied with a half hitch, folding each of the exposed ends into a loop (bight) and joining the loops with a second half hitch. The size of the loops and the length of the exposed ends are adjusted when the knot is tied. It has the stability of the reef knot but is significantly easier to untie, simply by pulling the ends away from the center of the knot.

The loops are sometimes referred to as "bunny ears", especially when the knot is taught to children.

Techniques Edit

There are several ways to tie a shoelace knot; each starts with the tying of a half hitch, and requires attention or some habitual mechanism for arriving at a knot that is an elaboration of the reef (or square) knot rather than of the granny (or lubber's) knot. One approach is to start by taking, in each hand, the end of the lace that emerges from the uppermost eyelet on that hand's side of the shoe; then passing the dominant hand's end under the other end, from front toward back, and dropping each lace on the opposite side from where it started; and in the finishing step again grasping the lace on each side with the hand on that side (perhaps taking time to note that because each end crossed over the shoe before, the laces have switched hands -- or vice versa, the hands have switched laces) and again passing the dominant hand's end under the other end, from front toward back.

The simplest approach to describe is to also form a loop by bending each lace end back toward the closest part of the same lace, then join the two loops in another half hitch, in the second passing-back-under described before these bullet points.
Another common procedure (especially for bow ties)[1] is to form a loop at one of the ends of the initial half-hitch, and circle it with the other end, which is simultaneously folded into a second loop that is then pushed through the knot.
The quickest approach is said to be one involving making one loop between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, and pulling each loop through the other; speed probably requires acquisition of muscle memory via repetition that is guided by a sequence of images.[2]
More secure shoe-tying knots Edit
A variation of the procedure involves looping the top part of the knot twice instead of once, resulting in a finished bow of almost identical appearance but with the laces wrapped twice around the middle. This Double Slip Knot holds the shoelaces more securely tied while still allowing them to be untied with a (slightly firmer) pull on the loose end(s).[3] One variation, the subject of a U.S. patent, begins with a surgeon knot and has a upper double slip knot on top of that.[4] Lace locking can be added for addition security.[5]

A less secure shoe-tying knot Edit
Tying two consecutive right-over-left half knots (or two consecutive left-over-right half knots) produces, instead of a square-knot-like bow-knot, a much less secure version corresponding to the granny (or duffer's) knot.[6]

See also Edit

Shoelaces
Bow tie
Reef knot
References

External links

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Popular music[edit]
The 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber ends with Jesus' crucifixion.

The cover art of Tupac Shakur's album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory features an image of Tupac being crucified on a cross. He stated that the image was not a mockery of Christ; rather, it showed how he was being "crucified" by the media.[citation needed] Multiple Marilyn Manson videos such as "I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me" and "Coma White" feature crucifixion imagery, often oddly staged in surreal modern or near modern-day settings. The Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth had several people on stage affixed to crosses to give the appearance of crucifixion at a now infamous concert in Kraków,[56] and repeated this act in the music video for "Carving a Giant." In 2006, singer Madonna caused controversy by opening a concert held near Vatican City with a mock crucifixion, complete with a crown of thorns.[57]


Classical music[edit]

In music, Stabat Mater refers to compositions of a hymn of the same name, while Stabat Mater in art is a specific form of depiction, as in this painting by Rogier van der Weyden, circa 1460.
Main article: Passion music
Famous depictions of crucifixion in classical music include the St John Passion and St Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach, and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's setting of Stabat Mater. Notable recent settings include the St. Luke Passion (1965) by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and the St. John Passion (1982) by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The 2000 work, La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark Passion) by Argentinian Jewish composer Osvaldo Golijov, was named one of the top classical compositions of the decade[54] for its fusion of traditional passion motifs with Afro-Cuban, tango, Capoeira, and Kaddish themes.[55]

Crucifixion has figured prominently in Easter cantatas, oratorios, and requiems. The third section of a full mass, the Credo, contains the following passage at its climax: "Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est," which means "And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried." This passage was sometimes set to music separately as a Crucifixus, the most famous example being that of Antonio Lotti for eight voices.

The seven utterances of Jesus while on the Cross, gathered from the four gospels, have inspired many musical compositions, from Heinrich Schütz in 1645 to Ruth Zechlin in 1996, with the best known being Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ, composed in 1787.

Depictions of crucifixion outside the Christian context are rare. One of the few examples is in Ernest Reyer's opera Salammbô (1890).


Television[edit]
Simulated crucifixions have been performed in professional wrestling. On the December 7, 1998, edition of WWF Monday Night Raw, professional wrestling character The Undertaker crucified Steve Austin.[49] On October 26, 1996, in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Raven, during a feud with The Sandman, instructed his Raven's Nest to crucify Sandman.[50]

Other television performers have used crucifixion to make a point. The Australian comedian John Safran had himself crucified in the Philippines as part of a Good Friday crucifixion ritual for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation show, John Safran's Race Relations (2009).[51] Singer Robbie Williams performed a stunt on an April 2006 Easter Sunday show shown on the UK television channel Channel 4, in which he was affixed to a cross and pierced with needles.[52]

The HBO television series Rome (2005–2007) contained several depictions of crucifixion, as it was a common torture method during the historical period the show takes place in.

In the 2010 Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Segovax, a slave recruit to the gladiatorial ludus of Lentulus Batiatus, attempts to assassinate Spartacus in the ludus washrooms and is crucified for doing so "after being parted from his cock".

Crucifixion has been depicted in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001), where its depiction has been cited in feminist studies as illustrating violent and misogynist tendencies within a messianic paradigm.[53]

In the History channel series "Vikings", the character Æthelstan, after being captured by the Saxons and named an apostate, is shown wearing a crown of thorns and being nailed to a cross. After the cross is raised he is taken down at the order of King Ecbert.[citation needed]

The Japanese science fiction series Neon Genesis Evangelion features crucifixion as a recurring motif.


Passion plays[edit]

A passion play, Poland, 2006
Main article: Passion play
Passion plays are dramatic presentations of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. They originated as expressions of devotion in the Middle Ages. In modern times, critics have said that some performances are antisemitic.[48]

Film and television[edit]
Film[edit]
Numerous movies have been produced which depict the crucifixion of Jesus. Some of these movies depict the crucifixion in its traditional sectarian form, while others intend to show a more historically accurate account. For example, Ben-Hur (1959), was probably the first movie to depict the nails being driven through Jesus' wrists, rather than his palms. Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ (2004) depicted an extreme level of violence, but showed the nails being driven into Jesus' palms, as is traditional, with ropes supporting the wrists.

Although crucifixion imagery is common, few films depict actual crucifixion outside of a Christian context. Spartacus (1960) depicts the mass crucifixions of rebellious slaves along the Appian Way after the Third Servile War. Conan the Barbarian (1982) depicts the protagonist being crucified on the Tree of Woe.

The 1979 British comedy film Monty Python's Life of Brian ends with a comical sequence in which several of the cast, including Brian, are crucified by the Romans. The film ends with them all singing the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". In this sequence, the characters are not nailed to the crosses, but tied at the wrists to the crossbar, and are standing on smaller crosspieces at foot level.

In the 2010 film Legion, one of the diner patrons is found crucified upside down and covered with huge boils.


Graphic novels[edit]

In the conclusion of Animal Man #5's The Coyote Gospel, "Crafty Coyote" dies in a cruciform pose, on a crossroads.
Crucifixion figures prominently in graphic novels from many cultures throughout the world.[32] In Western comic books, characters in cruciform are seen more often than actual crucifixions.[33] For example, Animal Man's fifth issue earned an Eisner Award nomination in 1989[34] for its "The Coyote Gospel", the story of Crafty, a thinly-disguised Wile E. Coyote (of the Road Runner cartoons)[35] and the depiction at the culmination of the issue of his dead body in cruciform. Superman, often seen as a Christ figure,[36] has also been crucified, as well as being shown in cruciform.[37][38]

Comparison of images from the manga Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, showing crucifixion in the original Japanese version (left), and alteration of the image for distribution in the United States (right)[39]
Crucifixions and crucifixes have appeared repeatedly in Japanese manga and anime.[40] In manga iconography, crucifixes serve two purposes: as death symbols, and as symbols of justice.[41] Scholars such as Michael Broderick and Susan J. Napier argue that Japanese readers associate crucifixion imagery with apocalyptic themes, and trace this symbolism to Japanese secular views of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, rather than to religious faith.[42] Producers of anime generally deny any religious motivation for depiction of crucifixion.[43][44] Concern that Westerners may find these portrayals of crucifixion offensive has led some distributors and localization studios to remove crucifixion imagery from manga such as Fullmetal Alchemist[39][45] and anime such as Sailor Moon.[46][47]


Popular art[edit]
Crucifixion in popular art, as with modern art, is sometimes used for its shock value. For example, a World War I Liberty bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo depicts a German soldier nailing an American soldier, his arms outspread, to the trunk of a tree. Crucifixion imagery is also used to make points in political cartoons.

Liberty Bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo

Postcard protesting German occupation of Poland. Sergey Solomko, circa 1915–17



QMRAlbrecht Dürer - The Four Holy Men (Mark and Paul)








Painting Chapter


Popular art[edit]
Crucifixion in popular art, as with modern art, is sometimes used for its shock value. For example, a World War I Liberty bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo depicts a German soldier nailing an American soldier, his arms outspread, to the trunk of a tree. Crucifixion imagery is also used to make points in political cartoons.

Liberty Bond poster by Fernando Amorsolo

Postcard protesting German occupation of Poland. Sergey Solomko, circa 1915–17


Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), 1954, by Salvador Dalí

Crucifixion by Porfirio DiDonna, 1964, oil on linen, 24 x 20 inches

Construction (Crucifixion): Homage to Mondrian, 1966, by Barbara Hepworth

Chris Burden's 1974 performance piece Trans-Fixed, in which he is crucified on a Volkswagen

Marcus Reichert, Crucifixion VII (1991), oil and charcoal on linen with newsprint collage, 74" x 62"


Crucifixion has appeared repeatedly as a theme in many forms of modern art.

The surrealist Salvador Dalí painted Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), representing the cross as a hypercube. The sculpture Construction (Crucifixion): Homage to Mondrian, by Barbara Hepworth, stands on the grounds of Winchester Cathedral. Porfirio DiDonna's abstract Crucifixion is one of a number of religious works he painted in the 1960s, "blending the artist's devotion to the liturgy and his commitment to painting".[24] The "Welsh Window", given to the 16th Street Baptist Church after it was bombed by four Ku Klux Klansmen in 1963, is a work of support and solidarity. The stained glass window depicts a black man, arms outstretched, reminiscent of the crucifixion of Jesus; it was sculpted by John Petts, who also initiated a campaign in Wales to raise money to help rebuild the church.[25]

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's 1975 self-portrait shows the artist, nude and smiling, posed as if crucified.[26][27] The 1983 painting Crucifixion, by Nabil Kanso, employs a perspective that places the viewer behind Christ's cross. In 1987 photographer Andres Serrano created Piss Christ, a controversial photograph that shows a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine, in which Serrano intended to depict sympathetically the abuse of Jesus by his executioners.[28] In the 1990s, Marcus Reichert painted a series of crucifixions, though he did not identify the figure as Christ, but as a representation of human suffering.[29]

Other artists have used crucifixion imagery as a form of protest. In 1974, Chris Burden had himself crucified to a Volkswagen. Robert Cenedella painted a crucified Santa Claus as a protest against Christmas commercialization,[30] displayed in the window of New York's Art Students League in December 1997. In August 2000, performance artist Sebastian Horsley had himself crucified without the use of any analgesics.[31]


Russian Orthodox depiction of crucifixion by a painter of the Novgorod School, 1360

Christ on the Cross by Fra Carnevale, circa 1445–1467

Crucifixion by Albrecht Altdorfer, circa 1514–1516, with tiny donor couple among the feet of the main figures

Cristo crucificado by Diego Velázquez, 1632, showing a Baroque return to realism and emotion in the depiction

Crucifixion, seen from the Cross by the French painter James Tissot, 1886–1894, shows the view from the perspective of the crucified, and is regarded as an early example of the transition to modern art.[23]

14th-century wood crucifix, Milan

Seventeenth century copper alloy crucifix, Democratic Republic of the Congo

18th-century Russian Orthodox brass crucifix

Crucified by José Luján Pérez, 1793, Canary Islands Cathedral, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Crucifix at the Church of St Mary of the Angels, Singapore, 2004

Crucifixes fashioned out of coral, Ambras Castle, Innsbruck, Austria, date uncertain
Modern


In the Gothic period more elaborate narrative depictions developed, including many extra figures of Mary Magdalene, disciples, especially The Three Marys behind the Virgin Mary, soldiers often including an officer on a horse, and angels in the sky. The moment when Longinus the centurion pierces Christ with his spear (the "Holy Lance") is often shown, and the blood and water spurting from Christ's side is often caught in a chalice held by an angel. In larger images the other two crosses might return, but most often not. In some works donor portraits were included in the scene.[20] Such depictions begin in the late 12th century, and become common where space allows in the 13th century.[21]

Related scenes such as the Deposition of Christ, Entombment of Christ and Nailing of Christ to the Cross developed. In the Late Middle Ages, increasingly intense and realistic representations of suffering were shown,[22] reflecting the development of highly emotional andachtsbilder subjects and devotional trends such as German mysticism; some, like the Throne of Mercy, Man of Sorrows and Pietà, related to the Crucifixion. The same trend affected the depiction of other figures, notably in the "Swoon of the Virgin", who is very commonly shown fainting in paintings of between 1300 and 1500, though this depiction was attacked by theologians in the 16th century, and became unusual. After typically more tranquil depictions during the Italian Renaissance—though not its Northern equivalent, which produced works such as the Isenheim Altarpiece—there was a return to intense emotionalism in the Baroque, in works such as Peter Paul Rubens's Elevation of the Cross.

The scene always formed part of a cycle of images of the Life of Christ after about 600 (though it is noticeably absent before) and usually in one of the Life of the Virgin; the presence of Saint John made it a common subject for altarpieces in churches dedicated to him. From the late Middle Ages various new contexts for images were devised, from such large scale monuments as the "calvaire" of Brittany and the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy to the thousands of small wayside shrines still found in many parts of Catholic Europe, and the Stations of the Cross in the majority of Catholic churches.


Through history[edit]

The Orpheos Bakkikos crucifixion. This hematite seal is thought by some to date from the early Christian era and reflect ancient Greek themes;[1] others consider it a modern or early modern forgery.[2] Formerly housed at the Altes Museum in Berlin, it was lost or destroyed during World War II.
The earliest known artistic representations of crucifixion predate the Christian era, including Greek representations of mythical crucifixions inspired by the use of the punishment by the Persians.[3]

The Alexamenos graffito, an early depiction of crucifixion (left), and a modern-day tracing (right)
The Alexamenos graffito, currently in the museum in the Palatine Hill, Rome, is a Roman graffito from the 2nd century CE which depicts a man worshiping a crucified donkey. This graffito, though apparently meant as an insult,[4] is the earliest known pictorial representation of the crucifixion of Jesus.[4][5][6][7][8] The text scrawled around the image reads Αλεξαμενος ϲεβετε θεον, which translates to "Alexamenos worships God" or some variant of this sentence.[9][10][11][12]

In the first three centuries of Early Christian art, the crucifixion was rarely depicted. Some engraved gems thought to be 2nd or 3rd century have survived, but the subject does not appear in the art of the Catacombs of Rome, and it is thought that at this period the image was restricted to heretical groups of Christians.[13] Constantine I forbade crucifixion as a method of execution, and early church leaders regarded crucifixion with horror, and thus, as an unfit subject for artistic portrayal.[14] The purported discovery of the True Cross by Constantine's mother, Helena, and the development of Golgotha as a site for pilgrimage, together with the dispersal of fragments of the relic across the Christian world, led to a change of attitude. It was probably in Palestine that the image developed, and many of the earliest depictions are on the Monza ampullae, small metal flasks for holy oil, that were pilgrim's souvenirs from the Holy Land, as well as 5th century ivory reliefs from Italy.[15] Prior to the Middle Ages, early Christians preferred to focus on the "triumphant" Christ, rather than a dying one, because the concept of the risen Christ was so central to their faith.[16] The plain cross became depicted, often as a "glorified" symbol, as the crux gemmata, covered with jewels, as many real early medieval processional crosses in goldsmith work were.

The earliest crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript, from the Syriac Rabbula Gospels, 586 CE
Starting in the 4th century CE, crucifixion imagery began to appear in art. Early depictions showed a living Christ, and tended to minimize the appearance of suffering, so as to draw attention to the positive message of resurrection and faith, rather than to the physical realities of execution.[14][17] In the Middle Ages, Jesus was more often seen as a human being, capable of suffering.[16] The first depictions of crucifixion displaying suffering are believed to have arisen in Byzantine art,[18] where the "S"-shaped slumped body type was developed. Early Western examples include the Gero Cross and the reverse of the Cross of Lothair, both from the end of the 10th century. The first of these is the earliest near life-size sculpted cross to survive. Such figures, especially as roods, large painted or sculpted crucifixes hung high in front of the chancel of churches, became very important in Western art, providing a sharp contrast with Eastern Orthodox traditions, where the subject was never depicted in monumental sculpture, and increasingly rarely even in small Byzantine ivories. By contrast, an altar cross, almost always a crucifix, became compulsory in Western churches in the Middle Ages,[19] and small wall-mounted crucifixes were increasingly popular in Catholic homes from the Counter-Reformation, if not before.

As a broad generalization, the earliest depictions, before about 900, tended to show all three crosses (those of Jesus, the Good Thief and the Bad Thief), but later medieval depictions mostly showed just Jesus and his cross. From the Renaissance either type might be shown. The number of other figures shown depended on the size and medium of the work, but there was a similar trend for early depictions to show a number of figures, giving way in the High Middle Ages to just the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, shown standing on either side of the cross, as in the Stabat Mater depictions, or sculpted or painted on panels at the end of each arm of a rood cross. The soldiers were less likely to be shown, but others of the party with Mary and John might be. Angels were often shown in the sky, and the Hand of God in some early depictions gave way to a small figure of God the Father in the heavens in some later ones, those these were always in the minority. Other elements that might be included were the sun and moon (evoking the darkening of the heavens at the moment of Christ’s death), and Ecclesia and Synagoga. Although according to the Gospel accounts his clothing was removed from Jesus before his crucifixion, most artists have thought it proper to represent his lower body as draped in some way.

Christ on the Cross", by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834–1890), showing the skies darkened


The earliest crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript, from the Syriac Rabbula Gospels, 586 CE: note the sun and moon in the sky


QMRThe Crucifixion darkness is an episode in three of the Canonical Gospels in which the sky becomes dark in daytime during the crucifixion of Jesus.

Ancient and medieval Christian writers treated this as a miracle, and believed it to be one of the few episodes from the New Testament which were confirmed by non-Christian sources. Pagan commentators of the Roman era explained it as an eclipse, although Christian writers pointed out that an eclipse during Passover, when the crucifixion took place, would have been impossible; a solar eclipse cannot occur during a full moon.

Modern scholarship, noting the way in which similar accounts were associated in ancient times with the deaths of notable figures, sees the phenomenon as a literary invention that attempts to convey a sense of the power of Jesus in the face of death, or a sign of God's displeasure with the Jewish people. Scholars have also noted the ways in which this episode appears to draw on earlier biblical accounts of darkness from the Book of Amos and the Book of Exodus.


Famous crucifixions[edit]
The rebel slaves of the Third Servile War: Between 73 BCE and 71 BCE a band of slaves, eventually numbering about 120,000, under the (at least partial) leadership of Spartacus were in open revolt against the Roman republic. The rebellion was eventually crushed and, while Spartacus himself most likely died in the final battle of the revolt, approximately 6,000 of his followers were crucified along the 200 km Appian Way between Capua and Rome as a warning to any other would-be rebels.
Jesus of Nazareth: his death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate (c. 30 or 33 CE), recounted in the four 1st-century canonical Gospels, is referred to repeatedly as something well known in the earlier letters of Saint Paul, for instance, five times in his First Letter to the Corinthians, written in 57 CE (1:13, 1:18, 1:23, 2:2, 2:8). Pilate was the Roman governor of Iudaea province at the time, and he is explicitly linked with the condemnation of Jesus not only by the Gospels but also by Tacitus,[125] (see Responsibility for the death of Jesus for details). The civil charge was a claim to be King of the Jews.
Saint Peter: Christian apostle, who according to tradition was crucified upside-down at his own request (hence the Cross of St. Peter), because he did not feel worthy enough to die the same way as Jesus.
Saint Andrew: Christian apostle and Saint Peter's brother, who is traditionally said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross (hence the St. Andrew's Cross).
Simeon of Jerusalem: second Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified in either 106 or 107 CE.
Mani: the founder of Manicheanism, he was depicted by followers as having died by crucifixion in 274 CE.
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln: an English boy whose disappearance in 1255 prompted a blood libel against the local Jews. A Jewish man was tortured until he confessed to killing the child. The story of Little Saint Hugh became well known through medieval ballad poetry.
Archbishop Joachim of Nizhny Novgorod: reportedly crucified upside-down by the Bolsheviks on the royal doors of St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Sevastopol, Russia in 1920.
Wilgefortis was venerated as a saint and represented as a crucified woman, however her legend comes from a misinterpretation of a full-clothed crucifix known as the Volto Santo of Lucca.


As a devotional practice[edit]

Devotional crucifixion in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines, Easter 2006
The Catholic Church frowns on self-crucifixion as a form of devotion: "Penitential practices leading to self-crucifixion with nails are not to be encouraged."[120] Nevertheless, the practice is not unknown.

In the Philippines, some Catholics are voluntarily, non-lethally crucified for a limited time on Good Friday to imitate the sufferings of Christ. Pre-sterilised nails are driven through the palm of the hand between the bones, while there is a footrest to which the feet are nailed. Rolando del Campo, a carpenter in Pampanga, vowed to be crucified every Good Friday for 15 years if God would carry his wife through a difficult childbirth,[121] while in San Pedro Cutud, Ruben Enaje has been crucified 27 times.[122] The Church in the Philippines has repeatedly voiced disapproval of crucifixions and self-flagellation, while the government has noted that it cannot deter devotees. The Department of Health insists that participants in the rites should have tetanus shots and that the nails used should be sterilized.[123]

In other cases, a crucifixion is only simulated within a passion play, as in the ceremonial re-enactment that has been performed yearly in the town of Iztapalapa, on the outskirts of Mexico City, since 1833,[124] and in the more famous Oberammergau Passion Play. Also, since at least the mid-19th century, a group of flagellants in New Mexico, called Hermanos de Luz ("Brothers of Light"), have annually conducted reenactments of Christ's crucifixion during Holy Week, in which a penitent is tied—but not nailed—to a cross.[citation needed]


Saudi Arabia[edit]
Several people have been executed by crucifixion in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, although on occasion they were first beheaded and then crucified. Most recently, in March 2013, a robber was set to be executed by being crucified for three days.[105] However, the method was changed.[106]

Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for taking part in an anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring.[107] In May 2014, Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to be publicly beheaded and crucified.[108]

Sudan[edit]
Sudan's penal code, based upon the government's interpretation of shari'a,[109][110][111] includes execution followed by crucifixion as a penalty. When, in 2002, 88 people were sentenced to death for crimes relating to murder, armed robbery, and participating in ethnic clashes, Amnesty International wrote that they could be executed by either hanging or crucifixion.[112]

Syria[edit]
On 30 April 2014 Islamic extremists carried out a total of seven public executions in Raqqa, northern Syria.[113] The pictures, originally posted to Twitter by a student at Oxford University, were retweeted by a Twitter account owned by a known member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) causing major media outlets to incorrectly attribute the crucifixions to the militant group.[114] In most of these cases of "crucifixion" the victims are shot first then their bodies are displayed[115] but there have also been reports of "crucifixion" preceding shootings or decapitations[116] as well as a case where a man was said to have been "crucified alive for eight hours" with no indication of whether he died.[


Crucifixion is still used as a rare method of execution in some countries. The punishment of crucifixion (șalb) imposed in Islamic law is variously interpreted as exposure of the body after execution, crucifixion followed by stabbing in the chest, or crucifixion for three days, survivors of which are allowed to live.[97]

Burma[edit]
The human rights group Karen Women Organization documented a case of Tatmadaw forces crucifying several Karen villagers in 2000 in the Dooplaya District in Burma's Kayin State.[98][99]

Iraq[edit]
On 5 February 2015 The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has committed "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive."[100]

Iran[edit]
Theoretically, crucifixion is still one of the Hadd punishments in Iran.[101][102] although it is not actually applied and there is no example of its use.[citation needed] If a crucified person were to survive three days of crucifixion, that person would be allowed to live.[103] Execution by hanging is described as follows: "In execution by hanging, the prisoner will be hung on a hanging truss which should look like a cross, while his (her) back is toward the cross, and (s)he faces the direction of Mecca [in Saudi Arabia], and his (her) legs are vertical and distant from the ground."[


Europe[edit]
During World War I, there were persistent rumors that German soldiers had crucified a Canadian soldier on a tree or barn door with bayonets or combat knives. The event was initially reported in 1915 by Private George Barrie of the 1st Canadian Division. Two investigations, one a post-war official investigation, and the other an independent investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, concluded that there was no evidence to support the story.[93] However, British documentary maker Iain Overton in 2001 published an article claiming that the story was true, identifying the soldier as Harry Band.[93][94] Overton's article was the basis for a 2002 episode of the Channel 4 documentary show Secret History.[95]

It has been reported that crucifixion was used in several cases against the German civil population of East Prussia when it was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of the Second World War.[96]


Burma[edit]
In Burma, crucifixion was a central element in several execution rituals. Felix Carey, a missionary in Burma from 1806–12[91] wrote the following:[92]

Four or five persons, after being nailed through their hands and feet to a scaffold, had first their tongues cut out, then their mouths slit open from ear to ear, then their ears cut off, and finally their bellies ripped open.
Six people were crucified in the following manner: their hands and feet nailed to a scaffold; then their eyes were extracted with a blunt hook; and in this condition they were left to expire; two died in the course of four days ; the rest were liberated, but died of mortification on the sixth or seventh day.
Four persons were crucified, viz. not nailed but tied with their hands and feet stretched out at full length, in an erect posture. In this posture they were to remain till death; every thing they wished to eat was ordered them with a view to prolong their lives and misery. In cases like this, the legs and feet of the criminals begin to swell and mortify at the expiration of three or four days; some are said to live in this state for a fortnight, and expire at last from fatigue and mortification. Those which I saw, were liberated at the end of three or four days.


Japan[edit]

Early Meiji period crucifixion (c. 1865–1868), Yokohama, Japan. A 25-year-old servant, Sokichi, was executed by crucifixion for murdering his employer's son during the course of a robbery. He was affixed by tying, rather than nailing, to a stake with two cross-pieces.[87][88]
Crucifixion was introduced into Japan during the Sengoku period (1467–1573), after a 350-year period with no capital punishment.[89] It is believed to have been suggested to the Japanese by the introduction of Christianity into the region,[89] although similar types of punishment had been used as early as the Kamakura period. Known in Japanese as haritsuke (磔?), crucifixion was used in Japan before and during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Several related crucifixion techniques were used. Petra Schmidt, in "Capital Punishment in Japan", writes:[90]

Execution by crucifixion included, first of all, hikimawashi (i.e, being paraded about town on horseback); then the unfortunate was tied to a cross made from one vertical and two horizontal poles. The cross was raised, the convict speared several times from two sides, and eventually killed with a final thrust through the throat. The corpse was left on the cross for three days. If one condemned to crucifixion died in prison, his body was pickled and the punishment executed on the dead body. Under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the great 16th-century unifiers, crucifixion upside down (i.e, sakasaharitsuke) was frequently used. Water crucifixion (mizuharitsuke) awaited mostly Christians: a cross was raised at low tide; when the high tide came, the convict was submerged under water up to the head, prolonging death for many days

In 1597 twenty-six Christians were nailed to crosses at Nagasaki, Japan. Among those executed were Saints Paulo Miki, Philip of Jesus and Pedro Bautista, a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines. The executions marked the beginning of a long history of persecution of Christianity in Japan, which continued until its decriminalization in 1871.

Crucifixion was used as a punishment for prisoners of war during World War II. Ringer Edwards, an Australian prisoner of war, was crucified for killing cattle, along with two others. He survived 63 hours before being let down.


In Islam[edit]
The Qur'an mentions crucifixion several times. In Surah 7:124, Fir'awn (i.e. the Pharaoh of Exodus) says that he will crucify his chief wizards.[83] Also, Surah 12:41 mentions Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) prophesying that the king (the current ruler of the land he was stranded in) would crucify one of his prisoners.[84]

'And the wizards fell down prostrate, crying: "We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, The Lord of Musa and Harun". Firaun said: "Ye believe in Him before I give you leave! Lo! this is the plot that ye have plotted in the city that ye may drive its people hence. But ye shall come to know! Surely I shall have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. Then I shall crucify you every one."' Surah 7:120-124[83]
'O my two fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire.' Surah 12:41[84]
In Surah 5:33, The Qur'an mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment. There are four different punishments for the different severities of crime. Crucifixion is the punishment for the robber who kills his victim after robbing him.

'The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.' Surah 5:33[85]
Crucifixion was in use by the Umayyads.[86]


Ancient Rome[edit]
The hypothesis that the Ancient Roman custom of crucifixion may have developed out of a primitive custom of arbori suspendere—hanging on an arbor infelix ("inauspicious tree") dedicated to the gods of the nether world—is rejected by William A. Oldfather, who shows that this form of execution (the supplicium more maiorum, punishment in accordance with the custom of our ancestors) consisted of suspending someone from a tree, not dedicated to any particular gods, and flogging him to death.[74] Tertullian mentions a 1st-century CE case in which trees were used for crucifixion,[75] but Seneca the Younger earlier used the phrase infelix lignum (unfortunate wood) for the transom ("patibulum") or the whole cross.[76] Plautus and Plutarch are the two main sources for accounts of criminals carrying their own patibulum to the upright stipes.[77]

A satyrical representation of the Christian worship, depicting a man worshiping a crucified donkey (Rome, c 85 CE to 3rd century CE). It is inscripted ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟΣ (ΑΛΕΞΑΜΕΝΟC) ΣΕΒΕΤΕ (CEBETE) ΘΕΟΝ, which translates as "Alexamenos respects god". Visible at the museum on the Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy (left). A modern-day tracing (right).
Crucifixion was used to punish slaves, pirates, and enemies of the state. It was considered the most shameful and disgraceful way to die. Condemned Roman citizens were usually exempt from crucifixion except when they were being punished for major crimes against the state, such as high treason.[citation needed]

Death was often hastened by human action. "The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim."[50]

Notorious mass crucifixions followed the Third Servile War in 73–71 BCE (the slave rebellion under Spartacus), other Roman civil wars in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Crassus crucified 6,000 of Spartacus' followers hunted down and captured after his defeat in battle.[78] Josephus tells a story of the Romans crucifying people along the walls of Jerusalem. He also says that the Roman soldiers would amuse themselves by crucifying criminals in different positions. In Roman-style crucifixion, the condemned could take up to a few days to die.

Under ancient Roman penal practice, crucifixion was also a means of exhibiting the criminal's low social status. It was the most dishonourable death imaginable, originally reserved for slaves, hence still called "supplicium servile" by Seneca, later extended to citizens of the lower classes (humiliores).[citation needed] The citizen class of Roman society were almost never subject to capital punishments; instead, they were fined or exiled. Josephus mentions Jews of high rank who were crucified, but this was to point out that their status had been taken away from them. The Romans often broke the prisoner's legs to hasten death and usually forbade burial.[citation needed]

Occasionally, scourging preceded crucifixion, which would cause the condemned to lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state of shock. The convict then usually had to carry the horizontal beam (patibulum in Latin) to the place of execution, but not necessarily the whole cross.[citation needed] Crucifixion was typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commanding centurion and four soldiers.[citation needed] When it was done in an established place of execution, the vertical beam (stipes) could even be permanently embedded in the ground.[citation needed] It's claimed by certain religious texts that the victims of crucifixion were stripped naked prior to being put on the cross—all the New Testament gospels describe soldiers gambling for the robes of Jesus.[79]

The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm) long, with a square shaft 3⁄8 inch (10 mm) across. In some cases, the nails were gathered afterward and used as healing amulets.[citation needed]

Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished crucifixion in the Roman Empire in 337 out of veneration for Jesus Christ, its most famous victim.[80][81][82]

Pre-Roman states[edit]

The Orpheos Bakkikos crucifixion, hematite seal reflecting ancient Greek themes, considered to be from the 3rd or 4th century CE,[60][61] although one source suggests that it is from the early Christian era.[62] Formerly housed at the Altes Museum in Berlin, but lost or destroyed during World War II.
Crucifixion (or impalement), in one form or another, was used by Persians, Carthaginians, and Macedonians.

The Greeks were generally opposed to performing crucifixions.[63] However, in his Histories, ix.120–122, the Greek writer Herodotus describes the execution of a Persian general at the hands of Athenians in about 479 BCE: "They nailed him to a plank and hung him up ... this Artayctes who suffered death by crucifixion."[64] The Commentary on Herodotus by How and Wells remarks: "They crucified him with hands and feet stretched out and nailed to cross-pieces; cf. vii.33. This barbarity, unusual on the part of Greeks, may be explained by the enormity of the outrage or by Athenian deference to local feeling."[65]

Some Christian theologians, beginning with Paul of Tarsus writing in Galatians 3:13, have interpreted an allusion to crucifixion in Deuteronomy 21:22-23. This reference is to being hanged from a tree, and may be associated with lynching or traditional hanging. However, Rabbinic law limited capital punishment to just 4 methods of execution: stoning, burning, strangulation, and decapitation, while the passage in Deuteronomy was interpreted as an obligation to hang the corpse on a tree as a form of deterrence.[66] The fragmentary Aramaic Testament of Levi (DSS 4Q541) interprets in column 6: "God ... (partially legible)-will set ... right errors. ... (partially legible)-He will judge ... revealed sins. Investigate and seek and know how Jonah wept. Thus, you shall not destroy the weak by wasting away or by ... (partially legible)-crucifixion ... Let not the nail touch him."[67]

The Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judea from 103 BCE to 76 BCE, crucified 800 rebels, said to be Pharisees, in the middle of Jerusalem.[68][69]

Alexander the Great is reputed to have crucified 2,000 survivors from his siege of the Phoenician city of Tyre,[70] as well as the doctor who unsuccessfully treated Alexander's friend Hephaestion. Some historians have also conjectured that Alexander crucified Callisthenes, his official historian and biographer, for objecting to Alexander's adoption of the Persian ceremony of royal adoration.

In Carthage, crucifixion was an established mode of execution, which could even be imposed on generals for suffering a major defeat.[71][72][73]


Ancient practice[edit]
Although the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, as well as other sources,[which?] refers to the crucifixion of thousands of people by the Romans, there is only a single archaeological discovery of a crucified body dating back to the Roman Empire around the time of Jesus. This was discovered at Givat HaMivtar, Jerusalem in 1968.[56] It is not necessarily surprising that there is only one such discovery, because a crucified body was usually left to decay on the cross and therefore would not be preserved. The only reason these archaeological remains were preserved was because family members gave this particular individual a customary burial.

The remains were found accidentally in an ossuary with the crucified man's name on it, 'Jehohanan, the son of Hagakol'.[57][58] Nicu Haas, an anthropologist at the Hebrew University Medical School in Jerusalem, examined the ossuary and discovered that it contained a heel bone with a nail driven through its side, indicating that the man had been crucified. The position of the nail relative to the bone indicates that the feet had been nailed to the cross from their side, not from their front; various opinions have been proposed as to whether they were both nailed together to the front of the cross or one on the left side, one on the right side. The point of the nail had olive wood fragments on it indicating that he was crucified on a cross made of olive wood or on an olive tree. Since olive trees are not very tall, this would suggest that the condemned was crucified at eye level.

Additionally, a piece of acacia wood was located between the bones and the head of the nail, presumably to keep the condemned from freeing his foot by sliding it over the nail. His legs were found broken, possibly to hasten his death. It is thought that because in Roman times iron was rare, the nails were removed from the dead body to conserve costs. According to Haas, this could help to explain why only one nail has been found, as the tip of the nail in question was bent in such a way that it could not be removed.

Haas had also identified a scratch on the inner surface of the right radius bone of the forearm, close to the wrist. He deduced from the form of the scratch, as well as from the intact wrist bones, that a nail had been driven into the forearm at that position. However, much of Haas' findings have been challenged. For instance, it was subsequently determined that the scratches in the wrist area were non-traumatic — and, therefore, not evidence of crucifixion —, while reexamination of the heel bone revealed that the two heels were not nailed together, but rather separately to either side of the upright post of the cross.[59]


Survival[edit]
Since death does not follow immediately on crucifixion, survival after a short period of crucifixion is possible, as in the case of those who choose each year as a devotional practice to be non-lethally crucified.

There is an ancient record of one person who survived a crucifixion that was intended to be lethal, but that was interrupted. Josephus recounts: "I saw many captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance. I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician's hands, while the third recovered."[55] Josephus gives no details of the method or duration of the crucifixion of his three friends before their reprieve.


The length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending on method, the victim's health, and the environment. A literature review by Maslen and Mitchell[41] identified scholarly support for several possible causes of death: cardiac rupture,[42] heart failure,[43] hypovolemic shock,[44] acidosis,[45] asphyxia,[46] arrhythmia,[47] and pulmonary embolism.[48] Death could result from any combination of those factors or from other causes, including sepsis following infection due to the wounds caused by the nails or by the scourging that often preceded crucifixion, eventual dehydration, or animal predation.[49][50]

A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was asphyxiation.[51] He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by his arms, leading to exhaustion, or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes. Some scholars, including Frederick Zugibe, posit other causes of death. Zugibe suspended test subjects with their arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical. The test subjects had no difficulty breathing during experiments, but did suffer rapidly increasing pain,[52][53] which is consistent with the Roman use of crucifixion to achieve a prolonged, agonizing death. However, Zugibe's positioning of the test subjects feet are not supported by any archaeological or historical evidence.[54]


In popular depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus (possibly because in translations of John 20:25 the wounds are described as being "in his hands"), Jesus is shown with nails in his hands. But in Greek the word "χείρ", usually translated as "hand", referred to arm and hand together,[31] and to denote the hand as distinct from the arm some other word was added, as "ἄκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα" (he wounded the end of the χείρ, i.e., he wounded her hand).[32]

A possibility that does not require tying is that the nails were inserted just above the wrist, between the two bones of the forearm (the radius and the ulna).[33]

An experiment that was the subject of a documentary on the National Geographic Channel's Quest For Truth: The Crucifixion,[34] showed that nailed feet provided enough support for the body, and that the hands could have been merely tied. Nailing the feet to the side of the cross relieves strain on the wrists by placing most of the weight on the lower body.

Another possibility, suggested by Frederick Zugibe, is that the nails may have been driven in at an angle, entering in the palm in the crease that delineates the bulky region at the base of the thumb, and exiting in the wrist, passing through the carpal tunnel.

A foot-rest (suppedaneum) attached to the cross, perhaps for the purpose of taking the person's weight off the wrists, is sometimes included in representations of the crucifixion of Jesus, but is not discussed in ancient sources. Some scholars interpret the Alexamenos graffito, the earliest surviving depiction of the Crucifixion, as including such a foot-rest.[35] Ancient sources also mention the sedile, a small seat attached to the front of the cross, about halfway down,[36] which could have served a similar purpose.

In 1968, archaeologists discovered at Giv'at ha-Mivtar in northeast Jerusalem the remains of one Jehohanan, who had been crucified in the 1st century. The remains included a heel bone with a nail driven through it from the side. The tip of the nail was bent, perhaps because of striking a knot in the upright beam, which prevented it being extracted from the foot. A first inaccurate account of the length of the nail led some to believe that it had been driven through both heels, suggesting that the man had been placed in a sort of sidesaddle position, but the true length of the nail, 11.5 cm (4.53 inches), suggests instead that in this case of crucifixion the heels were nailed to opposite sides of the upright.[37][38][39] The skeleton from Giv'at ha-Mivtar is currently the only recovered example of ancient crucifixion in the archaeological record.[40]


Cross shape[edit]

Crux simplex, a simple wooden stake. Image by Justus Lipsius

The crucifixion of Jesus. Image by Justus Lipsius[22]
See also: Instrument of Jesus' crucifixion
The gibbet on which crucifixion was carried out could be of many shapes. Josephus describes multiple tortures and positions of crucifixion during the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus crucified the rebels;[23] and Seneca the Younger recounts: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet."[17]

At times the gibbet was only one vertical stake, called in Latin crux simplex.[24] This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing the condemned. Frequently, however, there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape of a T (crux commissa) or just below the top, as in the form most familiar in Christian symbolism (crux immissa).[25] Jehovah's Witnesses argue that Jesus was crucified on a crux simplex, and that the crux immissa was an invention of Emperor Constantine.[26] Other forms were in the shape of the letters X and Y. Apparently the most ancient image of a Roman crucifixion is a graffito found in a taberna (hostel for wayfarers) in Puteoli, dating to the time of Trajan or Hadrian (late 1st century to early 2nd century CE). The cross is the T shape. An inscription over the individual's left shoulder identifies her as "Alkimila." [27]

The New Testament writings about the crucifixion of Jesus do not speak specifically about the shape of that cross, but the early writings that do speak of its shape, from about the year 100 CE on, describe it as shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau)[28] or as composed of an upright and a transverse beam, sometimes with a small projection in the upright.[29


Crucifixion was often performed in order to terrorize and dissuade its witnesses from perpetrating particularly heinous crimes. Victims were left on display after death as warnings to others who might attempt dissent. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods varied considerably with location and time period.

The Greek and Latin words corresponding to "crucifixion" applied to many different forms of painful execution, from impaling on a stake to affixing to a tree, to an upright pole (a crux simplex) or to a combination of an upright (in Latin, stipes) and a crossbeam (in Latin, patibulum).[11]

In some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam to the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh well over 135 kilos (300 lb), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 45 kilos (100 lb).[12] The Roman historian Tacitus records that the city of Rome had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside the Esquiline Gate,[13] and had a specific area reserved for the execution of slaves by crucifixion.[14] Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place, and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it, would then be attached to the post.

The person executed may have been attached to the cross by rope, though nails are mentioned in a passage by the Judean historian Josephus, where he states that at the Siege of Jerusalem (70), "the soldiers out of rage and hatred, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest."[15] Objects used in the crucifixion of criminals, such as nails, were sought as amulets with perceived medicinal qualities.[16]

While a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have traditionally depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals, the person being crucified was usually stripped naked. Writings by Seneca the Younger state some victims suffered a stick forced upwards through their groin.[17][18] Despite its frequent use by the Romans, the horrors of crucifixion did not escape mention by some of their eminent orators. Cicero for example, described crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment",[19] and suggested that "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen's body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears."[20]

Frequently, the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an act called crurifragium, which was also frequently applied without crucifixion to slaves.[21] This act hastened the death of the person but was also meant to deter those who observed the crucifixion from committing offenses.[21]


Terminology[edit]
Ancient Greek has two verbs for crucify: ana-stauro (ἀνασταυρόω), from stauros, "stake", and apo-tumpanizo (ἀποτυμπανίζω) "crucify on a plank," [1] together with anaskolopizo (ἀνασκολοπίζω "impale"). In earlier pre-Roman Greek texts anastauro usually means "impale."[2][3][4]

New Testament Greek uses four verbs, three of them based upon stauros (σταυρός), usually translated "cross". The most common term is stauroo (σταυρόω), "to crucify", occurring 43 times; sustauroo (συσταυρόω), "to crucify with" or "alongside" occurs five times, while anastauroo (ἀνασταυρόω), "to crucify again" occurs only once at the Epistle to the Hebrews 6:6. prospegnumi (προσπήγνυμι), "to fix or fasten to, impale, crucify" occurs only once at the Acts of the Apostles 2:23.

The English term cross derives from the Latin word crux.[5] The Latin term crux classically referred to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals as a form of execution. The term later came to refer specifically to a cross.[6]

The English term crucifix derives from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, past participle passive of crucifigere or cruci figere, meaning "to crucify" or "to fasten to a cross".[


QMRCrucifixion is a method of slow and painful execution in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang for several days until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It is principally known from antiquity, but remains in occasional use in some countries.

The crucifixion of Jesus is a central narrative in Christianity, and the cross (sometimes depicting Jesus nailed onto it) is the main religious symbol for many Christian churches.




QMRThe heraldic trefoil is a stylized clover. It should not be confused with the figure named in French heraldry tiercefeuille, which is a stylized flower with three petals. It differs from the heraldic trefoil in being not slipped. It could be translated as threefoil.[2]

Trefoil in heraldry

Or a fess sable between three trefoils vert

Gules a cross flory argent between four tiercefeuilles Or

Croatian trefoil, used by the Axis-sympathetic Croatian Air Force Legion in World War II, formed from a defaced Balkenkreuz[3]
The trefoil is depicted to look like a cross

Background[edit]
In addition to Roman Catholic and orthodox Christianity uses, the symbol also appears in the seal of the Church of Christ, Scientist, where it is surrounded by the words "Heal the Sick, Cleanse the Lepers, Raise the Dead, Cast Out Demons", from the Gospel of Matthew, 10:8. In this symbol the crown stands for victory over death.

The symbol is also associated with Freemasonry, specifically the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite of Freemasonry. The symbol is also known as "Knight Templars Blood-Red Passion Cross and Crown". The cross and crown symbol is often surrounded by the phrase "In Hoc Signo Vinces", which is Latin for "By this sign thou shalt conquer". This is a reference to the story of Constantine, who reportedly had a vision of a Chi Rho symbol, and a voice saying "By this sign thou shalt conquer". [3][4][5]

The symbol was also featured in the early publications and memorabilia of the International Bible Students Association. First appearing on the cover of the January 1881 issue of Zion's Watch Tower,[6] the cross and crown were surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves, and the symbol was also used on lapel pins, buttons (metal and celluloid) and pendants of various designs. However, not all of its uses by the I.B.S.A. included the wreath of laurel leaves. Although Charles Taze Russell's gravesite is marked by a pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society[7][8] with an illustration of the Cross and Crown symbol, the Watchtower Society later discontinued using the cross and crown some years after, viewing it as a "pagan symbol" - their doctrine for some time since is that Jesus was executed not on a cross but on an upright stake.

The Cross and Crown symbol is also the key emblem of the Royal Black Institution, (a sister organisation of the Orange Order), a Protestant fraternity, with structural and symbolic links to Freemasonry.

The Cross and Crown symbol also appears on the cover of the 1998 book, The Power of the Cross, by Tim Lahaye.


QMRCross and Crown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crosscrown.svg
The Cross and Crown (a cross passing through a crown), is seen by some to be a Christian symbol appearing in many churches, particularly Roman Catholic; and has also been used in heraldry.[1][2] It is often interpreted as symbolizing the reward in heaven (the crown) coming after the trials in this life (the cross) (James 1:12).


The coat of arms of the Anglican diocese of Trinidad contains several Christian visual symbols


QMR Lily crucifix[edit]

Lily Crucifix at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, Suffolk

The coat of arms of the Anglican diocese of Trinidad contains several Christian visual symbols
A lily crucifix is a rare symbol of Anglican churches in England. It depicts Christ crucified on a lily, or holding such a plant. The symbolism may be from the medieval belief that the Annunciation of Christ and his crucifixion occurred on the same day of the year, March 25.[27]

There are few depictions of a lily crucifix in England. One of the most notable is a painting on a wall above the altar at All Saint's Church, Godshill, Isle of Wight. Other examples include:

An alabaster example on a tomb in St Mary's Church, Nottingham.
The Lady Chapel of St Helen's, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has a wall painting.
Five examples are in glass as at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.
At All Saints, Great Glemham, Suffolk, the image is on the base of a font.
At St Mary, Binham, Norfolk, an image in a bench end may be a lily crucifix.
In Tong, Shropshire, St. Bartholomew's choir stall No. 8 depicts a lily crucifix.
The Church of St John the Baptist, Wellington includes a lily crucifix in the carving of the centre mullion of the east window of the Lady chapel


The anchor has a crossing at the top, respembling a cross


QMRAnchor Anchor pictogram.svg[edit]
The Christians adopted the anchor as a symbol of hope in future existence because the anchor was regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety. For Christians, Christ is the unfailing hope of all who believe in him: Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and several of the early Church Fathers speak in this sense. The Epistle to the Hebrews 6:19-20 for the first time connects the idea of hope with the symbol of the anchor.[24]

A fragment of inscription discovered in the catacomb of St. Domitilla contains the anchor, and dates from the end of the 1st century. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries the anchor occurs frequently in the epitaphs of the catacombs. The most common form of anchor found in early Christian images was that in which one extremity terminates in a ring adjoining the cross-bar while the other ends in two curved branches or an arrowhead; There are, however, many deviations from this form.[24] In general the anchor can symbolize hope, steadfastness, calm and composure.


IX Monogram Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 4.jpg[edit]

A IX Monogram from a 4th century Sarcophagus from Constantinople
An early form of the monogram of Christ, found in early Christian ossuaries in Palestinia, was formed by superimposing the first (capital) letters of the Greek words for Jesus and Christ, i.e. iota Ι and chi Χ, so that this monogram means "Jesus Christ".[16]:166 Another more complicated explanation of this monogram was given by Irenaeus[19] and Pachomius: because the numeric value of iota is 10 and the chi is the initial of the word "Christ" (Greek: ΧΡΕΙΣΤΟΣ [sic]; proper spelling: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ) which has 8 letters, these early fathers calculate 888 ((10*8)*10)+((10*8)+8) which was a number already known to represent Jesus, being the sum of the value of the letters of the name "Jesus" (IHΣΟΥΣ) (10+8+200+70+400+200).[16]:169–170

They are usually superimposed on each other making a sort of cross but this cross has six parts


IH Monogram IH Monogram with iota and eta superimposed.jpg[edit]
The first two letters of the name of Jesus in Greek, iota (Ι) and eta (Η), sometime superimposed one on the other, or the numeric value 18 of ΙΗ in Greek, was a well known and very early way to represent Christ.[18] This symbol was already explained in the Epistle of Barnabas and by Clement of Alexandria.[5] For other christograms such as IHS, see Article Christogram. They are usually superimposed on each other to form a cross


Chi Rho Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 1.jpg[edit]

The Chi-Rho symbol ☧, Catacombs of San Callisto, Rome
Main article: Chi Rho
The Chi Rho is formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" =Christ in such a way to produce the monogram. Widespread in ancient Christianity, it was the symbol used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as vexillum (named Labarum).

IH


QMRStaurogram Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 2.jpg[edit]

A staurogram used in the second century Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV to represent the word cross in (Luke 14:27)
The Staurogram (meaning monogram of the cross, from the Greek σταυρός, i.e. cross), or Monogrammatic Cross or Tau-Rho symbol, is composed by a tau (Τ) superimposed on a rho (Ρ). The Staurogram was first used to abbreviate the Greek word for cross in very early New Testament manuscripts such as P66, P45 and P75, almost like a nomen sacrum, and may visually have represented Jesus on the cross.[15]

Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th-century explained these two united letters stating that the tau refers to the cross, and the rho refers to the Greek word "help" (Βoήθια [sic]; proper spelling: Βoήθεια) which has the numerological value in Greek of 100 as the letter rho has. In such a way the symbol expresses the idea that the Cross saves.[15] The two letters tau and rho can also be found separately as symbols on early Christian ossuaries.[16]

The tau was considered a symbol of salvation due to the identification of the tau with the sign which in Ezekiel 9:4 was marked on the forehead of the saved ones, or due to the tau-shaped outstretched hands of Moses in Exodus 17:11.[15] The rho by itself can refer to Christ as Messiah because Abraham, taken as symbol of the Messiah, generated Isaac according to a promise made by God when he was one hundred years old, and 100 is the value of rho.[16]:158

The Monogrammatic Cross was later seen also as a variation of the Chi Rho symbol, and it spread over Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries.[17]

Chi


One of the earliest crosses in history is the St Thomas cross, which is a Greek cross with clover leaf edges, especially popular in Kerala and India. Its variant, the open air Rock Cross in front of almost all old Kerala churches, with four members viz., the base which is generally in the form of a lotus flower with a socket for the cylidrical end of the main shaft, which carries the arm and the capital above the arm, all in granite and rarely in laterite stone. These rock crosses are perhaps unique to Kerala's Malabar Churches.[10]

Although the cross was known to the early Christians, the crucifix did not appear in use until the 5th century.[11] French Medievalist scholar and historian of ideas M.-M. Davy has described in great detail Romanesque Symbolism as it developed in the Middle Ages in Western Europe.[12]


QMRCross and crucifix[edit]
Main article: Christian cross

The Crucifix, a cross with corpus, a symbol used by the Catholic Church, in Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism, in contrast with some Protestant denominations, which use only a bare cross.

The top of the Nestorian Stele, a Christian monument erected in A.D. 781 near Beijing, showing the cross above the inscription which reads: "Stele to the propagation in China of the luminous religion of Daqin"
The cross, which is today one of the most widely recognised symbols in the world, was used as a symbol from the earliest times. This is indicated in the anti-Christian arguments cited in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, chapters IX and XXIX, written at the end of the 2nd century (cited as AD 197) or the beginning of the next.[3][4]

By the early 3rd century, the cross had become so closely associated with Christ that Clement of Alexandria, who died between 211 and 216, could without fear of ambiguity use the phrase τὸ κυριακὸν σημεῖον (the Lord's sign) to mean the cross, when he repeated the idea, current as early as the Epistle of Barnabas, that the number 318 (in Greek numerals, ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14 was a foreshadowing (a "type") of the cross (T, an upright with crossbar, standing for 300) and of Jesus (ΙΗ, the first two letters of his name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, standing for 18).[5]

His contemporary Tertullian could designate the body of Christian believers as crucis religiosi ("devotees of the Cross").[6] In his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross.[7]

The Jewish Encyclopaedia states:

The cross as a Christian symbol or "seal" came into use at least as early as the second century (see "Apost. Const." iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, "Apologia," i. 55-60; "Dial. cum Tryph." 85-97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii.; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21-22; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by the power of the cross.[8][9]


QMRThe Pietà (Italian pronunciation: [pjeˈta]) is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ. When Christ and the Virgin are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, the subject is strictly called a Lamentation in English, although Pietà is often used for this as well, and is the normal term in Italian.

Art and religion are always linked. Art is the third square and religion is the second sure field of inquiry. The pieta commemorates Jesus coming off of the cross and being mourned by his Mom.


At the Divine Liturgy, during the Ektenias (Litanies) that precede the Great Entrance, the eileton is opened fully and the antimins is opened three-quarters of the way, leaving the top portion folded. Then, during the Ektenia of the Catechumens, when the deacon says, "That He (God) may reveal unto them (the catechumens) the Gospel of righteousness," the priest unfolds the last portion of the antimins, revealing the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. After the Entrance, the chalice and diskos are placed on the antimins and the Gifts (bread and wine) are consecrated. The antimins remains unfolded until after all have received Holy Communion and the chalice and diskos are taken back to the Prothesis (Table of Oblation). The deacon (or, if there is no deacon, the priest) must very carefully inspect the antimins to be sure there are no crumbs left on it, and then it is folded up, the eileton is folded, and the Gospel Book placed on top of it.

Oriental Orthodox Practice[edit]
A wooden tablet, the ţablîtho, is the liturgical equivalent of the antimins in the churches of Syriac tradition. However, it is no longer used by the Antiochian Orthodox Church (which follows the liturgical practice of Constantinople, and thus uses the antimins) or the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church.

In the Ethiopian Tawahedo Church, the tâbot is functionally similar to the tablitho. However, this word is also used in the Ge'ez language to describe the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is symbolically represented by the manbara tâbôt ('throne of the Ark'), a casket that sits on the altar. The tâbot itself, the wooden tablet, is taken out before the anaphora, and symbolizes the giving of the Ten Commandments.

In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, a wooden tablet, the maqta‘ or al-lawh al-khashab, is the liturgical equivalent of the antimins in contemporary usage. Usually it is decorated with a cross and bears letters in Coptic which signify "Jesus Christ Son of God" in the four squares between the arms of the cross.


It is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist without an antimins. The antimins is kept in the centre of the Holy Table (altar) and is unfolded only during the Divine Liturgy, before the Anaphora. At the end of the Liturgy, the antimins is folded in thirds, and then in thirds again, so that when it is unfolded the creases form a cross (see photo, right). When folded, the antimins sits in the centre of another, slightly larger cloth called the eileton (Greek: Εἰλητόν; Slavonic: Ilitón)—similar to the Western corporal, except it is usually red in colour—which is then folded around it in the same manner (3 x 3), encasing it completely. A flattened natural sponge is also kept inside the antimins, which is used to collect any crumbs which might fall onto the Holy Table. When the antimins and eileton are folded, the Gospel Book is laid on top of them.

The antimins must be consecrated and signed by a bishop. The antimins, together with the chrism remain the property of the bishop, and are the means by which a bishop indicates his permission for the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) to be celebrated in his absence. It is, in effect, a church's licence to hold divine services; were a bishop to withdraw his permission to serve the Mysteries, he would do so by taking the antimins and chrism back. Whenever a bishop visits a church or monastery under his jurisdiction, he will enter the altar (sanctuary) and inspect the antimins to be sure that it has been properly cared for, and that it is in fact the one that he issued.

Besides the bishop, no one is allowed to touch an antimins except a priest or deacon, and because it is a consecrated object, they should be vested when they do so—the deacon should be fully vested, and the priest should vest in at least the epitrachil (stole) and epimanikia (cuffs).

A 17th-century epitaphios from Fyodorovskaya Church in Yaroslavl.
The antimins may also function as a substitute altar, in that a priest may celebrate the Eucharist on it in the absence of a properly consecrated altar. In emergencies, war and persecution, the antimins thus serves a very important pastoral need. Formerly if the priest celebrated at a consecrated altar, the sacred elements were placed only on the eileton, but in current practise the priest always uses the antimins even on a consecrated altar that has relics sealed in it.


QMRThe Antimins (from the Greek Ἀντιμήνσιον, Antimension: "instead of the table"), is one of the most important furnishings of the altar in many Eastern Christian liturgical traditions. It is a rectangular piece of cloth of either linen or silk, typically decorated with representations of the Descent of Christ from the Cross, the Four Evangelists, and inscriptions related to the Passion. A small relic of a martyr is sewn into it.


Gallery[edit]

Benedetto Antelami.
Deposition from the Cross (1178). Carved stone relief.
Parma Cathedral

Externsteine Relief (12th century). Natural sandstone.
Teutoburger Wald, Germany

Limbourg brothers.
The Deposition, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 156v (c. 1410). Illuminated manuscript.
Musée Condé, Chantilly

Fra Angelico.
Deposition of Christ, Fra Angelico (1437-1440). Tempera on wood, 176 x 185 cm.
Museo di San Marco, Florence

Anonymous.
Deposition of the Cross
Church of Our Lady, Bruges, Belgium

The prayer Obsecro te (1470s), from the Book of Hours of Angers
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

Descent from the Cross (1495), from Ss. Johns' church in Toruń.
Diocesan Museum, Pelplin

Pietro Perugino.
Deposition (1495)
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

Anonymous.
Vilar de Donas stone altarpice (16th century)
San Salvador de Vilar de Donas, Palas de Rei. Galicia.

Guglielmo della Porta.
Deposition (16th century). Marble.
Museo d'arte antica, Castello Sforzesco, Milan

Rosso Fiorentino.
Deposition (1521). Oil on wood, 375 × 196 cm.
Pinacoteca Comunale di Volterra

Jacopo Pontormo.
The Deposition from the Cross (1528). Oil on wood, 313 × 192 cm.
Santa Felicità, Florence

Agnolo di Cosimo ("Bronzino")
Deposition of Christ (1540-1545) Oil on wood, 268 × 173 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Besançon

Caravaggio.
The Entombment of Christ (1604).
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome

Simone Peterzano, Deposition of Christ, church of San Fedele, Milan

Rembrandt van Rijn.
Deposition (1633). Oil on wood. 89.4 × 65.2 cm.
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Pedro Roldán
"Deposition of Christ" (1666)
,Church of the Shrine, Seville

Jean Jouvenet, The Descent from the Cross (1697).
Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Deposition from the Cross (18th century). Clay statues.
Sacro Monte di Belmonte (near Turin)

Jean-Baptiste Regnault.
Deposition (c. 1789). Oil on panel
Stanford Museum, Stanford University, California

Deposition. Carved and painted stone.
Church of Santa Teresinha, Porto Alegre, Brazil

frères Avondo
Deposition. Fresco.
Pont de Beauvoisin, Savoie, France

Cluny Abbey
Deposition with Twelve Apostles (bishop's mitre). Ink on cloth
Musée national du Moyen, Paris

Antonio Ciseri.
The Deposition of Christ (c. 1883)

Antimension (1890). Printed on silk.
Oradea-Mare, Transylvania, Romania

Viktor Vasnetsov
Entombment, (1896). Mural.
St Volodymyr's Cathedral, Kiev

Deposition: His body taken down from the cross (modern). Carved stone.
Münster, Germany

Ludvig Karsten.
Nedtagelsen (Deposition) (1925). Oil on canvas.

Jacek Andrzej Rossakiewicz.
The Deposition (St John Passion - 7) (1990). Oil on canvas, 245 x 140 cm

Titian, 1559


Selected examples[edit]
With articles:
Deposition of Christ, (ca. 1433) by Fra Angelico, in the National Museum of San Marco, Florence.
Descent from the Cross (ca. 1435) by Rogier van der Weyden, in Museo del Prado, Madrid).
The Entombment (ca. 1501), Michelangelo, in the National Gallery, London.
Deposition from the Cross (1528) by Pontormo at Capponi Chapel of church of Santa Felicita, Florence.
Deposition from the Cross (1521) by Rosso Fiorentino in Pinacoteca of Volterra.
The Entombment of Christ (1602–1603), by Caravaggio, at the Vatican Pinacoteca
The Descent from the Cross (1612–14), by Rubens, at the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp
Descent From The Cross (1995–1996), by David Folley, now at the Jesus Chapel, St. Andrew's Church, Wickford, Essex.

Others:
Codex Grecus 510 (9th century Byzantine, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris)
Codex Egberti (ca. 980, Trier city library).
St Albans Psalter - English Romanesque miniature (ca. 1130-45) [1]
Externsteine relief (12th century)
Toros Roslin (13th century) [2]
Byzantine Museum of Kastoria (ca. 1400) [3]
Nicolas Mostaert (1579) [4]
Rembrandt (1634, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) [5] [6] [7]
Athens, Benaki Museum No. 3001 (ca. 1700) [8]
Gustave Doré [9]
Max Beckmann (1917) [10]
Enrique Miguel de la Vega [11]
Eastern Orthodox Icons of the Descent from the Cross.[12]
The Antimension [13]


Development of the image[edit]
Even in early depictions the details and posing of the composition, and especially the position of Christ's body, are varied. The scene was usually included in medieval cycles of the Life or the Passion of Christ, between the Crucifixion and the Entombment of Christ. The Lamentation of Christ, or Pietà, showing the body of Christ held by Mary, may intervene between these two, and is common as an individual image, especially in sculpture. The Bearing of the body, showing Christ's body being carried to his tomb, and the Anointing of Christ's body, showing the body laid flat on the top of the tomb or a similarly-shaped "anointing-stone" are other scenes that may be shown. This last is especially important in Orthodox art, where it is shown on the Epitaphios.

With the Renaissance the subject became popular for altarpieces, partly because of the challenges of the composition, and the suitability of its vertical shape. The Mannerist version of Rosso Fiorentino is usually regarded as his most important work, and Pontormo's altarpiece is perhaps his most ambitious work. The subject was painted several times by both Rubens and Rembrandt, who repeated one of his paintings (now in Munich) in a large print, his only one to be mainly engraved, as well as making two other etchings of the subject.


QMRDescent from the Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rogier van der Weyden. The Descent from the Cross. (c.1435) Oil on oak panel, 220 x 262 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid

Peter Paul Rubens. The Descent from the Cross (1617–18), (Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille).
Events in the
Life of Jesus
according to the Gospels
Life of Jesus
Early life[show]
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In rest of the NT[show]
Portals: P christianity.svg Christianity Bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg Bible

Wikipedia book Book:Life of Jesus
v t e
The Descent from the Cross (Greek: Ἀποκαθήλωσις, Apokathelosis), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion (John 19:38-42). In Byzantine art the topic became popular in the 9th century, and in the West from the 10th century. The Descent from the Cross is the 13th Station of the Cross.

Other figures not mentioned in the Gospels who are often included in depictions of this subject include St. John the Evangelist, who is sometimes depicted supporting a fainting Mary (as in the work below by Rogier van der Weyden), and Mary Magdalene. The Gospels mention an undefined number of women as watching the crucifixion, including the Three Marys, (Mary Salome being mentioned in Mark 15:40), and also that the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene saw the burial (Mark 15:47). These and further women and unnamed male helpers are often shown.[1]


Music[edit]
Franz Liszt wrote a Via Crucis for choir, soloists and piano or organ or harmonium in 1879. In 1931, French organist Marcel Dupré improvised and transcribed musical meditations based on fourteen poems by Paul Claudel, one for each station. Peter Maxwell Davies's Vesalii Icones (1969), for male dancer, solo cello and instrumental ensemble, brings together the Stations of the Cross and aseries of drawings from the anatomical treatise De humani corporis fabrica (1543) by the Belgian physician Andreas van Wesel (Vesalius). In Davies's sequence, the final 'station' represents the Resurrection, but of Antichrist, the composer's moral point being the need to distinguish what is false from what is real.[21] David Bowie regarded his 1976 song, "Station to Station" as "very much concerned with the stations of the cross".[22] Michael Valenti (known predominantly as a Broadway composer) wrote, with librettist Diane Seymour, an oratorio depicting the fourteen Stations of the Cross entitled "The Way". It was premiered in 1991. Stefano Vagnini's 2002 modular oratorio, Via Crucis,[23] composition for organ, computer, choir, string orchestra and brass quartet, depicts the fourteen Stations of the Cross.

As the Stations of the Cross are prayed during the season of Lent in Catholic churches, each station is traditionally followed by a verse of the Stabat Mater, composed in the 13th century by Franciscan Jacopane da Todi.

Place of Christ's resurrection[edit]
Some modern liturgists[20] say the traditional Stations of the Cross are incomplete without a final scene depicting the empty tomb and/or the resurrection of Jesus, because Jesus' rising from the dead was an integral part of his salvific work on Earth. Advocates of the traditional form of the Stations ending with the body of Jesus being placed in the tomb say the Stations are intended as a meditation on the atoning death of Jesus, and not as a complete picture of his life, death, and resurrection.

The Stations of the Resurrection (also known by the Latin name of Via Crucis) are used in some churches at Eastertide to meditate on the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.

Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church[edit]
As part of a process of de-Latinization, the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church eliminated the devotion of the Stations of the Cross.[citation needed] In response to this, a schismatic group called the Society of Saint Josaphat (SSJK) has formed with a seminary of its own in Lviv with thirty students at present.[citation needed]

Modern usage[edit]

Station 5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross, Good Friday procession 2011 at Ulm, Germany
The devotion may be conducted personally by the faithful, making their way from one station to another and saying the prayers, or by having an officiating celebrant move from cross to cross while the faithful make the responses. The stations themselves must consist of, at the very least, fourteen wooden crosses, pictures alone do not suffice, and they must be blessed by someone with the authority to erect stations.[18][dubious – discuss]

In the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II led an annual public prayer of the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum on Good Friday. Originally, the Pope himself carried the cross from station to station, but in his last years when age and infirmity limited his strength, John Paul presided over the celebration from a stage on the Palatine Hill, while others carried the cross. Just days prior to his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II observed the Stations of the Cross from his private chapel. Each year a different person is invited to write the meditation texts for the Stations. Past composers of the Papal Stations include several non-Catholics. The Pope himself wrote the texts for the Great Jubilee in 2000 and used the traditional Stations.

The celebration of the Stations of the Cross is especially common on the Fridays of Lent, especially Good Friday. Community celebrations are usually accompanied by various songs and prayers. Particularly common as musical accompaniment is the Stabat Mater. At the end of each station the Adoramus Te is sometimes sung. The Alleluia is also sung, except during Lent.

Structurally, Mel Gibson's 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ, follows the Stations of the Cross.[19] The fourteenth and last station, the Burial, is not prominently depicted (compared to the other thirteen) but it is implied since the last shot before credit titles is Jesus resurrected and about to leave the tomb.


New Way of the Cross[edit]
In the Philippines, a third version of Stations of the Cross is used, also based on scripture. In this version, the Denial of Peter is omitted (given that Jesus is practically absent from that scene), the condemnation of Pilate is conflated with acceptance of the cross, the Last Supper is designated as the First Station, and the Resurrection as the fourteenth. [17]

The Last Supper
The Agony in Gethsemani
Jesus before the Sanhedrin
The Scourging and Crowning with thorns
Jesus receives the Cross
Jesus falls under the weight of the Cross
Simon of Cyrene carries the Cross of Jesus
Jesus meets the pious Women of Jerusalem
Jesus is nailed to the cross
The Repentant Thief
Mary and John at the foot of the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus is laid in the tomb
Jesus rises from death


Scriptural Way of the Cross[edit]
Main article: Scriptural Way of the Cross
Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have clear scriptural foundation. Stations 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9 are not specifically attested to in the gospels (in particular, no evidence exists of station 6 ever being known before medieval times) and Station 13 (representing Jesus's body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of His mother Mary) seems to embellish the gospels' record, which states that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross and buried him. To provide a version of this devotion more closely aligned with the biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced a new form of devotion, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross on Good Friday 1991. He celebrated that form many times but not exclusively at the Colosseum in Rome.[15][16] In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI approved this set of stations for meditation and public celebration: They follow this sequence:

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested,
Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin,
Jesus is denied by Peter,
Jesus is judged by Pilate,
Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns,
Jesus takes up his cross,
Jesus is helped by Simon to carry his cross,
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem,
Jesus is crucified,
Jesus promises his kingdom to the repentant thief,
Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other,
Jesus dies on the cross,
Jesus is laid in the tomb


Traditional form[edit]

Set of the traditional 14 scenes in Limoges enamel

Portuguese Church, Kolkata
The early set of seven scenes was usually numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 14 from the list below.[12] The standard set from the 17th to 20th centuries has consisted of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes:

Jesus is condemned to death
Jesus carries his cross
Jesus falls the first time
Jesus meets his mother
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Jesus falls the second time
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
Jesus falls the third time
Jesus is stripped of his garments
Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus is taken down from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Although not traditionally part of the Stations, the Resurrection of Jesus is sometimes included as a fifteenth station.[13][14]


Spiritual significance[edit]
The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for many Christians, especially among Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans,[3][4] and "is often performed in a spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion."[4][9]

In his encyclical letter, Miserentissimus Redemptor, on reparations, Pope Pius XI called Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ a duty for Catholics and referred to them as "some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury" with respect to the sufferings of Jesus.[10] Pope John Paul II referred to Acts of Reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".[11]


The Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimages to Jerusalem. A desire to reproduce the holy places in other lands seems to have manifested itself at quite an early date. At the monastery of Santo Stefano at Bologna a group of connected chapels was constructed as early as the 5th century, by St. Petronius, Bishop of Bologna, which was intended to represent the more important shrines of Jerusalem, and in consequence, this monastery became familiarly known as "Santa Gerusalemme".[5] These may perhaps be regarded as the germ from which the Stations afterwards developed, though it is tolerably certain that nothing that we have before about the 15th century can strictly be called a Way of the Cross in the modern sense. Although several travelers who visited the Holy Land during the twelfth, thirteenth, and 14th centuries (e.g. Riccoldo da Monte di Croce, Burchard of Mount Sion, James of Verona),[6] mention a "Via Sacra", i.e., a settled route along which pilgrims were conducted, there is nothing in their accounts to identify this with the Way of the Cross, as we understand it.[citation needed] The devotion of the Via Dolorosa, for which there have been a number of variant routes in Jerusalem, was probably developed by the Franciscans after they were granted administration of the Christian holy places in Jerusalem in 1342. Today, nine of the Stations of the Cross that were established by the Franciscans are located along the Via Dolorosa as it wends its way from the northwest corner of the Temple Mount to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, within which the remaining five stations are located.

The earliest use of the word "stations", as applied to the accustomed halting-places in the Via Sacra at Jerusalem, occurs in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land in the mid-15th century, and described pilgrims following the footsteps of Christ to the cross. In 1521 a book called Geystlich Strass (German: "spiritual road") was printed with illustrations of the stations in the Holy Land.[6]

During the 15th and 16th centuries the Franciscans began to build a series of outdoor shrines in Europe to duplicate their counterparts in the Holy Land. The number of stations varied between seven and thirty; seven was common. These were usually placed, often in small buildings, along the approach to a church, as in a set of 1490 by Adam Kraft, leading to the Johanneskirche in Nuremberg.[7] A number of rural examples were established as attractions in their own right, usually on attractive wooded hills. These include the Sacro Monte di Domodossola (1657) and Sacro Monte di Belmonte (1712), and form part of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy World Heritage Site, together with other examples on different devotional themes. In these the sculptures are often approaching life-size and very elaborate. In 1686, in answer to their petition, Pope Innocent XI granted to the Franciscans the right to erect stations within their churches. In 1731, Pope Clement XII extended to all churches the right to have the stations, provided that a Franciscan father erected them, with the consent of the local bishop. At the same time the number was fixed at fourteen. In 1857, the bishops of England were allowed to erect the stations by themselves, without the intervention of a Franciscan priest, and in 1862 this right was extended to bishops throughout the church.[8]


QMRStations of the Cross refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and also to the prayers Christians say when contemplating those images. Often a series of 14 images will be arranged in numbered order around a church nave or along a path, and the faithful travel from image to image, in order, stopping at each "station" (Latin: statio) to say the selected prayers and reflections. This will be done individually or in groups. Occasionally the faithful might say the Stations of the Cross without there being any image, such as when the Pope leads the Stations of the Cross around the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday.[1] This practice is common in Roman Catholic, as well as in a number of Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches.[2]

The style and form of the stations can vary widely and often reflect the artistic sensibility and spirituality of the time, place and culture of their creation. The stations can consist of small plaques with reliefs or paintings, or of simple crosses with a numeral in the centre.[3][4]

The Stations of the Cross are also called the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, or simply, The Way. In Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa is believed to be the actual path that Jesus walked, and the stations there, the actual places the events occurred.

The tradition of moving around the Stations to commemorate the Passion of Christ began with St. Francis of Assisi and extended throughout the Roman Catholic Church in the medieval period.[citation needed] It is most commonly done during Lent, especially on Good Friday, but it also done on other days as well, especially Wednesdays and Fridays.[citation needed]

QMR stations of the cross


Crucifixion in the arts
wiki








Music Chapter


QMRFour & More
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
'Four' & More
MilesDavis FourAndMore.jpg
Live album by Miles Davis
Released January 17, 1966[1]
Recorded February 12, 1964
Philharmonic Hall of Lincoln Center, New York City
Genre Jazz[2]
Length 53:53
Label Columbia
CL 2453 (mono)
CS 9253 (stereo)
Producer Teo Macero
Miles Davis chronology
My Funny Valentine
(1964) Four & More
(1964) Miles in Tokyo
(1964)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide 4/5 stars[4]
'Four' & More: Recorded Live in Concert is a live album by Miles Davis, recorded at the Philharmonic Hall of Lincoln Center, New York City, NY on February 12, 1964, but not released until 1966. Two albums were assembled from the concert recording: the up-tempo pieces were issued on this album, while My Funny Valentine consists of the slow and medium-tempo numbers.




QMRboying or breaking, also called breakdancing, is a style of street dance that originated primarily among African American and Puerto Rican youth, many former members of the Black Spades, the Young Spades, and the Baby Spades, during the mid 1970s.[1] The dance spread worldwide due to popularity in the media, especially in regions such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Russia, and South Korea. While diverse in the amount of variation available in the dance, b-boying consists of four kinds of movement: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. B-boying is typically danced to hip-hop, funk music, and especially breakbeats, although modern trends allow for much wider varieties of music along certain ranges of tempo and beat patterns.

Four parts[edit]

Red Hot Chili Peppers is a four-part band with a lead vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer lineup.
The four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. Before the development of the electronic keyboard, the configuration was typically two guitarists (a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist, with one of them singing lead vocals), a bassist, and a drummer (e.g. The Beatles, KISS, Jackyl, Metallica, The Clash, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Kinks, The Fray, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand). This is popular with bands for its versatility.[citation needed]
Another common formation was a vocalist, electric guitarist, bass guitarist, and a drummer (e.g. The Who, The Monkees, Led Zeppelin, Queen (until 1991) Ramones, Sex Pistols, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Blur, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Stone Roses, Creed, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Rage Against the Machine, Gym Class Heroes, The Stooges, Joy Division, and U2). Instrumentally, these bands can be considered as trios. This format is popular with new bands, as there are only two instruments that need tuning, the melody and chords formula prevalent with their material is easy to learn, four members are commonplace to work with, the roles are clearly defined and generally are: instrumental melody line, rhythm section which plays the chords and/or countermelody, and vocals on top.

In some early rock bands, keyboardists were used, performing on piano (e.g. The Seeds and The Doors) with a guitarist, singer, drummer and keyboardist. Some bands will have a guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboard player (for example, Talking Heads, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Small Faces, King Crimson, The Guess Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, Coldplay, The Killers and Blind Faith).

Some bands will have the bassist on lead vocals, such as Thin Lizzy, The Chameleons, Skillet, Pink Floyd, Motörhead, NOFX, +44, Slayer, The All-American Rejects or even the lead guitarist, such as Death, Dire Straits, Megadeth and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Some bands, such as The Beatles, have a lead guitarist, a rhythm guitarist and a bassist that all sing lead and backing vocals, that also play keyboards regularly, as well as a drummer. Others, such as The Four Seasons, have a lead vocalist, a lead guitarist, a keyboard player, and a bassist, with the drummer not being a member of the band.


Four parts[edit]
Jazz quartets typically add a horn (the generic jazz name for saxophones, trombones, trumpets, or any other wind or brass instrument commonly associated with jazz) to one of the jazz trios described above. Slightly larger jazz ensembles, such as quintets (five instruments) or sextets (six instruments) typically add other soloing instruments to the basic quartet formation, such as different types of saxophones (e.g., alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, etc.) or an additional chordal instrument.

Larger ensembles[edit]
The lineup of larger jazz ensembles can vary considerably, depending on the style of jazz being performed. In a 1920s-style dixieland jazz band, a larger ensemble would be formed by adding a banjo player, woodwind instruments, as with the clarinet, or additional horns (saxophones, trumpets, trombones) to one of the smaller groups. In a 1940s-style Swing big band, a larger ensemble is formed by adding "sections" of like instruments, such as a saxophone section and a trumpet section, which perform arranged "horn lines" to accompany the ensemble. In a 1970s-style jazz fusion ensemble, a larger ensemble is often formed by adding additional percussionists or sometimes a saxophone player would "double" or "triple" meaning that they would also be proficient at the clarinet, flute or both. Also by the addition of soloing instruments.


QMRFour parts[edit]
Main article: Quartet
Strings[edit]
A string quartet usually consists of two violins, a viola and a cello. An upper string quartet features two violins and two violas. A lower string quartet features one viola, two cellos and a double bass.

Wind[edit]
A woodwind quartet usually features a flute, an oboe, a clarinet and a bassoon. A brass quartet features two trumpets, a trombone and a tuba. A wind quartet features a horn, a flute, an oboe and a bassoon. A lower wind quartet features a tuba, a bassoon, a bass clarinet and a trombone. A saxophone quartet consists of a soprano saxophone, an alto saxophone, a tenor saxophone, and a baritone saxophone.



four horsemen rap group

The album cover for liquid swords was a chess board. I described chess is made up of a 64 quadrant grid, which is four quadrant models. GZA and RZA are both fans of chess.









Dance Chapter

The dance teacher describes that in the electric slide you do four steps to the left then four steps tot he right then four steps back


The dance teacher said that four is the magic number in the cupid shuffle because you do four steps to the left then four steps to the right then four kicks then you walk it out four times and then you repeat it in all four directions


QMRWorld Champion Fantastic Four Double Dutch Girls


QMRLocking is by nature an improvisational dance but also consists of a set of signature moves of locking pioneers, However, many lockers alter or blend these with other moves or create their own variations. In general, Lockers will often put a small pause and move up on the second and fourth beats to emphasize the locking.


QMRChain Reaction was a four-man dance crew from Reseda, California whose members included Thomas "T-Bopper" Guzman-Sanchez, Paul "Cool Pockets" Guzman-Sanchez, Robert "Bosco" Winters, and Mike "Deuce" Donley.[85] Just like The Electric Boogaloos had their own signature dance style called electric boogaloo, Chain Reaction also had their own signature dance style called crossover locking.[86] They performed on the talk show Thicke of the Night and in the movie Xanadu.[87] Xanadu premiered in 1980, four years earlier than the hip-hop dance classics Beat Street and Breakin'. Xanadu was the first time boogaloo, popping, and crossover locking were performed on film.[88] In 1984, T-Bopper created a new dance crew called United Street Force. By invitation, this crew performed at the White House for President Ronald Reagan.[89]


This dance teacher teaches that the simplest bone break move has four steps and four counts


Cali swag district is a group that made popular the dougie dance has four members




the dance teacher on YouTube describes the Cat Daddy dance as having four steps



According to this girl there are four methods to do the scorpion

method 1 is the Herkie method

method 2 is the hurdler

method 3





Literature Chapter









Cinema Chapter


QMRFour Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant. It was made in six weeks and cost under £3 million,[1] becoming an unexpected success and the highest-grossing British film in cinema history at the time, with worldwide box office in excess of $245.7 million, and receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.[2][3]

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