Colonial Standing Crucifix

A skull at the foot of the cross, and a small figure in a niche below.

This colonial standing crucifix comes from Latin America and is inlaid bone and carved hardwood. Crucifixes like it stood on church and household altars, keeping Christ's sacrifice before the faithful, and the skull at the base of the cross traditionally refers to Golgotha, the place of the skull. The carved corpus hangs under an INRI plaque. Below, a small architectural stand of columns, pinnacles and diamond inlay shelters a figure in an arched niche. Twenty-eight inches high and just over seven wide.

The bone inlay is bright. The subject is not.