18th Century Peace Depicting The Crucifixion

18th century

Peace depicting the Crucifixion

Bronze with dark patina, cm 21 x 14.5

The bronze examined is an ancient peace (in Latin osculum pacis or table pacis), object of the Christian liturgy. It is a panel decorated on the front by a sacred scene that was kissed by the priest during the celebration of mass, and then offered to the kiss of the other officiants and finally the faithful. It, in use since the thirteenth century, replaced the old custom of the kiss of peace, which took place before communion, and that today is the "exchange of a sign of peace" with the handshake. The shape is usually rectangular, with a support on the back to keep it in a raised position on the altar, but there are also specimens of round shape. Gold, silver, bronze, ivory or glass were used as materials, and the techniques of embossing, bas-relief, engraving or enamel, often used in combination in the same specimen. The iconography represented was usually directed on liturgical festivals or on the Saints and on the theme of the Passion of Jesus, as in the case analyzed here, where the Crucifixion of Christ is represented.

In the centre of a three-lobed space decorated with elegant plant clusters is represented the crucified Christ with his arms stretched out on the cross, his legs crossing on two feet pierced by a single nail, and his head, reclining and suffering, crowned by thorns. At the foot of the cross, marked by the sign INRI, initials of the inscription Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, «Jesus Nazarene King of the Jews», take place the Madonna, who suffers wipes her tears with a handkerchief, and the favorite apostle, John, who reaches his hands in prayer. The artist’s mastery in defining figures is striking, particularly in the rendering of the voluminous draperies and the gestures of the characters which are very natural and intense. The same subject is depicted on the verse of peace from the early 16th century, in silver chiseled in gold, by a Lombard workshop, kept at the Museum of the Treasury of the Cathedral of Vigevano. 

The object is in good condition