8/8/23 Report - A Few Notes on Crosses and Crucifixes. 1715 Fleet Crucifix Corpus. 16th Century Shipwreck Artifacts. Reflecting.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Gilded Cup
With Figure of Mars on Top
From 17th Century Ship.

Here is the link to see more artifacts from the same 17th century Dutch wreck.

Lost and Found at Sea - Archaeology Magazine

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Detectorists often find crosses and crucifixes.  There is a difference.  Generally speaking, a crucifix has the cross with the body of Christ on it.  You can sometimes tell something about the age of a crucifix by certain features.  Below is an excerpt from a good article on the history of crosses and crucifixes.

The difference between a cross and a crucifix is that the latter bears a "corpus" or sculpted image of Christ's body. Sometimes a museum will display the corpus only, the cross having been lost (example).  Another genre is the crucifixion image, which pictures Christ on the cross in the context of details from the gospel accounts...

The emphasis on Jesus' suffering continued into Counter-Reformation art in the 16th and 17th centuries and thence into the folk art of Latin countries, where it is still in evidence. Some examples go back to using a decorated skirt rather than a tied cloth.

Later crucifixes retain the Gothic elements – the five wounds, the tied cloth, and the slumping head and sagging arms. But most examples from the 19th and 20th centuries, like the fifth picture at right, are considerably less bloody, and even in New Mexico this unsorrowful crucifix has Christ open-eyed and raising his arms in acclamation. Modern crucifixes are usually less oriented to theological statement, although a few examples have Jesus reaching one hand down from the cross as if to assist the person standing below.

Here is the link.

Crosses and Crucifixes in Christian Art: Historical Study (christianiconography.info)

Let me interject something else from that article.  You might remember that I suggestively asked if the Tree of Life and the tree of Calvary might be the same tree. Here is what the same Christianiconography article referenced above says.

In the paleo-Christian era another trope referencing salvation through Christ was the cross placed on a hill from which four rivers flow, as in this sarcophagus and this diptych leaf. The rivers represent the four rivers in Genesis that rise from the single source in Eden.

So in the early days of Christianity, the cross was shown as being in Eden.  Man was cast out of Eden and unable to access the tree of life until...

Below is something else about crosses and crucifixes that you might find helpful.

It is common in Protestant theology, especially Evangelical Protestantism, to celebrate the risen Christ which is most commonly represented by the cross without the form of Jesus crucified. In other words, a bare cross will suffice.  (Source: Why do Catholics love the crucifix so much? - Living Faith - Home & Family - News - Catholic Online)

Not without exception, but often, crosses are found at Protestant sites while crucifixes are more often found in connection with Catholic sites.  

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Here is a link to a previous post I did about the characteristics of crucifixes from various periods.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 4/10/20 Report - Variety of Crucifixes: 16th to 21st Century. Indicators of Age To Look For.

And below is a figure found quite a few years ago at a 1715 Fleet beach. The nose and upper face is rubbed smooth very likely from much use during prayer.  

 At the time it was found I didn't know much about such things, but over the years I came to recognize some of the subtle indicators.

Corpus Found by Metal Detecting a 1715 Fleet Beach.

It shows several diagnostic features, but I'm sure you can't see all of them from the photo.  

It originally had a heavy black encrustation on some of it.  The above photo is how it looked after some cleaning.  

When I found it I didn't appreciate it as I do now.  I thought it was a good find, but no more than a coin.

I didn't know a lot about it. 

Over the years, I learned more about it.  The learning was slow.  It took place in spirts, followed by long periods of time.

I wasn't sure about it - its age or source.  It was found in a place where I thought it might have come from the wreck, but I wasn't as sure that it did come from the wreck, but so many things confirm that now - the location, the features and style and the materials.

I am glad that it is not in perfect shape and shows the heavy of use.  I'm very glad it isn't in mint condition and shows some of it's history.

When I found it, it was a find to me, but not one that I knew very well.  Over the years I came to know in a deeper way.  I came to know it as a sacred object that someone clutched, stroked, loved and depended upon in times of fear, panic and devotion.  I think of the hurricane and people clinging to whatever plank or shattered piece of wood that might help save their bodies as the storm winds howled and blew the tops of the white-capped waves into a horizontal spray.  I think of this touchpoint of prayer as a lifeboat of sorts for a breathing soul struggling through the storms of life.  

Although the cross was not found with the corpus, through the gold I still see it as being there.  Tonight, for example, as I held the figure, it took me back some sixty years to the old farmhouse on the hill where on a fall day one Sunday afternoon the neighborhood kids were invited to attend a home Sunday school.  Maybe seven or eight or ten of us ragtag country kids sat in a circle, and as the accordion played, we unconfidently and hesitatingly followed along and echoed the words to that old hymn, The Old Rugged Cross.  Maybe I didn't find the cross with the corpus on the beach that day, but I can clearly see it just the same.

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No significant developments in the Atlantic or Caribbean.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net