http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/medmuseum/galleryexhibits/artthatheals/11thecross.html
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to define the status of the cross: first, the cross is the "seal" of Christ
(and the Trinity) and therefore has always existed and always will; second,
its wood having been sanctified by Christ's blood, it is a sacrificial being
endowed with an infinite power of sanctification. This sacrificial status
gives its eternity a triumphal quality. Medium of Christ's rebirth, it tends
to act as His worldly double, still more than any place with which he is
associated. In Ethiopia, as opposed to Western Christian churches, the cross
is far more an image of triumph than one of death. And the Church, in
signing every baptized person with the cross, makes them share in God's
victory over death and over Satan.
Each church has one or several large processional crosses, which are used
during sacramental activities, services, and processions. Westerners who
have stayed in Ethiopia know the procession of the Epiphany: moving toward
the brook where the ceremony will take place, the deacons walk first,
wearing ceremonial clothes, crowned, and holding a cross; they are followed
by priests wearing on their heads an altar tablet wrapped in cloth. No less
celebrated is the procession around the bonfire on the feast of the finding
of the True Cross. In the past, processions used to take place on Saturdays
and Sundays, according to the testimony of the chaplain Alvarez, who was
part of the first Portuguese diplomatic expedition to Ethiopia, in the early
sixteenth century.
Processional Cross
21. Processional cross. The cross is honored by its placement under atriumphal arch, following the antique fashion, and thus suggesting aprototype of great age. Cross, twelfth to thirteenth century, 34.92 x 15.87cm. Collection: The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, 54.2889
Cross with rounded extremities
http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/medmuseum/galleryexhibits/artthatheals/images/22roundedcross.gif
22. Processional cross. The doubling of the lateral ends of this cross's arms is a development seen in a type of cross from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, characterized by rounded extremities. Cross, thirteenth to fourteenth century (?), bronze, 33 x 17 cm. Collection:
Richard J. Faletti Family, Clarendon
Four-lobed processional cross
http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/medmuseum/galleryexhibits/artthatheals/images/23fourlobed.gif
26. Four-lobed processional cross, particularly finely executed. Serpents appear on the edges. Like all bronze crosses, this one was made by the lost-wax process. Cross, fifteenth century, bronze, 26.03 x 15.87 cm. Collection: The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, 54.2894
Interlacing processional cross
http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/medmuseum/galleryexhibits/artthatheals/images/24interlacing.gif 27. The interlacing of this processional cross, in beaten and cut brass, reveals a Muslim influence. On the front, according to the inscriptions, "Mary" and her child between "Michael" and "Gabriel"; on the back, the "Ancient of Days" between "Peter" and "Paul." Cross, early sixteenth
century, brass, 28 x 21.5 cm. Private collection. Photo courtesy of Guy Vivien
Benediction cross
http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/medmuseum/galleryexhibits/artthatheals/images/25benediction.gif 28. Benediction cross with engraved motifs: above, the Trinity, with, at their feet, a dignitary armed with a curved sword, and accompanied by a soldier at either side; at the right, Mary and her child; at the left, Saint George, and below, a holy hermit and a soldier. Carving wood does not demand the sophisticated technique of working in bronze, and is practiced by monks, whose talents can be inventive, if sometimes crude. Cross, seventeenth century (?), wood, 57 x 30 cm. Collection: Robert and Nancy Nooter. Photo courtesy of Jerry L. Thompson
Text courtesy of Mercier, Jacques. Art That Heals: the Image as Medicine in Ethiopia. New York: Prestel Books and The Museum For African Art, 1997.
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