I started this as part of a book on the Jesse Tree. I wanted a chapter on the Anglo-Saxon origins of the green wood cross that rarely in some versions of the Jesse Tree that include a crucifixion in them. Green wood crosses appear not infrequently in European stained glass windows from the 12th century onward. It seemed especially appropriate in this triduum of 2020 to edit and publish this chapter. The Figure numbers are from the original chapter. I added more images than I had originally to more fully illustrate my text. I wish I knew an editor who could help me make this a better organized chapter.
I will have to divide this blog into two parts since I am running into issues with editing and other computer problems I do not understand.
I will have to divide this blog into two parts since I am running into issues with editing and other computer problems I do not understand.
The
Anglo-Saxon Origins of the Green Wood Cross-Part I
Symbolism of
Wood and Trees
The medieval mind was
preoccupied with the interplay of words and images. Examples shown in three biblical texts are:
1) Isaiah speaks of a stem from the tree stump of Jesse, 2) Jeremiah t
a righteous Branch from David, 3) Daniel interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
of a tree that grew from the center of the earth to a great height, but was
then cut down as predicting the life that the King was to lead. The tree was hewed down so it can regrow as a
Messianic kingdom. The medieval mind saw
these symbols of growth and destruction of trees as the destruction of Israel
and subsequent redemption through Jesus Christ. The reference is not just to the events of the
gospels but also the hoped for second coming as expressed in Revelation 5.5:
et unus de senioribus dicit mihi ne fleveris ecce
vicit leo de tribu Iuda radix David aperire
librum et septem signacula eius.(Vulgate:Apocalypsis 5:5)
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals
thereof. (Revelation 5.5 KJV)
Multiple layers of means were
sought and found. Pictorial
representations showing typological reasoning reinforced the need to hear or
read the words and consider the many possible layers of meaning. (Two illustrations of growth and curtailment
are Figures 96 & 97.)
The
link between the stump of Jesse, the rod of Moses, the wood of the (true)
Cross, and the Tree of Life was made well before the 11th or 12th
century. For example, Bishop
Quodvultdeus of Carthage (active c. 437-c.453), a younger contemporary of and
correspondent with Augustine of Hippo, wrote a sermon that identified the wood
of the cross with the shoot from the stock of Jesse, and the rod of Moses.[1]
Figure 96.
Left, Birth of the Virgin Mary. Right, Jesse Tree/vine. Grape vine instead of tree
growing from abdomen of Jesse is commonly found in texts such as Speculum
Humanae Salvationis.[2]
Note that the top of the vine/tree is a dove of the Holy Spirit. The vine image derives from Ecclesiasticus
or The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach.
Figure 97. King Nebuchadnezzar dreams of tree that must
be cut down. Speculum Humanae Salvationis.
Cologne, c. 1450. Den Hague MMW 10 B 34.[3]
O agne occise, o Christe sancte pro nobis crucifixe, qui ut lapsa
reparares in cruce pependisti:
ipsa est illa virga regni tui, crux ipsa, in quam, qua virtus in infirmitate perficitur;
ipsa illa virga crux, ipsa illa virga quae floruit ex radice Jesse; ipsa
illa virga quam portabat Moyses, quae
conversa in serpentem glutiit magorum serpentes: doctrina Christi diffusa per omnes gentes, haereticos superans
dementes.[4]
Oh lamb had been slain, who was
crucified for us, O holy Christ, who hung upon the cross that [our] Fall may be repaired: scepter of thy kingdom
is that the very cross, into which… any
virtue is made perfect in weakness: none other than that the of the cross,
this very same rod which flowered from the root Jesse, that she was carrying a rod as Moses, which was turned into a snake swallow[ing] magicians’
snakes: the doctrine of Christ spread throughout the nation,
surpassing the demented heretics.
Quodvultdeus’ sermon was attributed to
St. Augustine of Hippo. And under that
name the sermon was known in England by the early 12th century. Quite a number, perhaps nine, of his sermons
were known in England. Two manuscript
copies of the sermons are preserved in cathedral libraries. One early 12th century manuscript
is located in the Salisbury Cathedral library.[5] The second 12th
century copy is among a collection of sermons in a manuscript at Worcester Cathedral
library.[6]
The
best known of the medieval legends is The Golden Legend compiled in the 13th
century. The Golden Legend or Legenda
Aurea was just one of a number of legends that was known to those designing
Jesse Trees. Vita Adae et Evae (Life
of Adam and Eve) dates from the 10th century.[7] In this story, when Adam was old and in pain,
he sent Eve and his son Seth back to the gates of Paradise to beg for oil from
the tree of Mercy to anoint himself and ease the pain. The angel Michael met them and did not give
them the requested oil. Instead, they
were given a branch and sweet smelling spices.
Adam died and his children mourned him.
Then Seth saw the hand of God give the body of Adam to the angel
Michael. The angels Michael and Uriel
buried Adam and his son Abel in Paradise.
Six days later Eve died. Seth and
his brothers and sisters mourned her for only six days because of the
instruction from the angel Michael. The
story ends as Seth makes tablets, writing down the story. Another version of this tale has Seth looking
into Paradise and seeing in a large tree at the center of the garden the Virgin
and infant Jesus. Upon Seth’s reporting
this sight to his dying father, Adam exclaims, “Blessed are you, O Lord, for
now I know truly that a virgin will conceive a son who will die on the cross,
whence we shall all be saved.”[8]
The Gospel of Nicodemus or The Acts of Pilate
was written perhaps as early as the 4th century.[9] An apparently later addition to the text was
a description of Jesus’ descent into and Harrowing of Hell. There is scholarly debate as to the original
language of composition and the date of the Descensus part of the
tale. It was probably not added until
after the 6th century since Gregory of Tours (540-594) references
the Gospel of Nicodemus without mentioning the Descent in Hell part of
the story.[10] In any case, Anglo-Saxon England knew the
Latin story. The text includes another
version of Adam’s son, Seth, begging before the gates of Paradise for the oil
of mercy for his father Adam. Seth
recalled that as he begged for the oil of mercy, the angel Michael came to him
and said that he could not have the oil of mercy but that a Savior, the Son of
God, would come in 5,500 years and raise up the body of Adam and the bodies of
the dead. Jesus will “lead our father
Adam into paradise to the tree of mercy.”
The wording is very similar to the Latin Life of Adam and Eve. In a second Latin version of the text, the
writer has the prophet Jeremiah say, “When I was upon earth, I prophesied of
the Son of God, that He was seen upon earth, and dwelt with men.”[11]
Another popular legend about the Cross is the Holy Rood
legend dating perhaps from the 11th century and found in a 12th
century vernacular Old English manuscript at the Bodleian Library (Bodley 343),
Oxford.[12] The story starts with Moses finding three
rods/trees in the desert after the Red Sea crossing. The trees are cypress, pine, and cedar. At first, Moses is afraid of the wood. After he discovers that the rods have to
power to sweeten bitter water, he takes the three rods with him. David carried the trees to Jerusalem where
they were placed in a pool of bitter water.
The three become one mighty tree that grew in David’s garden, and, on
which, David hung 30 silver hoops.
Solomon cut down the tree to use in building the Temple but the wood was
always the wrong length. The wood would
get longer or shorter than what was needed.
So the tree was put in the Temple.
The thirty silver hoops were made into thirty plates that hung in the
temple. The silver eventually came to
Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, as 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26.15). The tree remained in the Temple in Jerusalem
and many miracles were associated with it.
Eventually, Caiaphas ordered that three hundred men get the tree to make
the cross for Jesus. None of the three
hundred men could move the tree. So, a
section of wood was cut from the tree for the cross for Jesus.
The story then picks up with Helena, the mother on
Constantine, coming to Jerusalem and finding the wood of the True Cross as well
as the crosses on which the robbers were hung.
She divided the wood from the true cross, leaving some in
Jerusalem. Then she carried some of the
wood to Constantinople. When Helena
entered the city, a dead man was brought to her, and he was made alive by the
wood from the true cross. The story ends
with Helena making a bridle for her son from the five nails used for the
crucifixion. The bridle sped the spread
of Christianity.
There are two traditions in the legends of the
cross. The more widely known one is that
of Seth, son of Adam, went back to Paradise begging for oil of mercy but got a
branch or seeds or spices instead.
Godfrey of Viterbo, an Italian or German cleric and diplomat, tells the
another version in Pantheon (c.1180-90), a history of the world. [13]. Ionitus, an apocryphal son of Moses, plucked
three fruits from three trees, a cyprus, palm, and fir. When planted they grew into one tree which
David recognized as a symbol for the Trinity.
Solomon cut down the tree to use in building the temple but the wood
proved unsuitable since it kept changing length. Solomon set up the tree in the temple to be
worshiped. A sibyl saw the Messiah in
the tree. Solomon recognized that this
portended the fall of Israel, and the Jewish kingdom. He threw the tree into the Pool of
Siloam. The wood was retrieved from the
pool to make the cross. When the wood was
used to make the Cross, three colors of wood could be discerned.
The wood of the cross legends reached a climax with The
Golden Legend.[14] In the Legend, the wood of the Cross grew
from three seeds of the Tree of Mercy.
As Adam was dying, he sent his son Seth to Paradise to fetch the oil of
mercy. Instead, Seth was given seeds
from the Tree of Mercy by the angel Michael.
Then Seth planted the seeds in the mouth of the dead Adam.[15] From these three seeds grew trees. Solomon found the tree and cut it down. Eventually the tree was buried in a pit that
was a piscina, a pool for washing sacrificial animals. The tree floated to the top of the pool and
was recovered to construct Jesus’ cross.
Thus the wood of the Cross came from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil (or Tree of Mercy) and became the Tree of Life and the Tree of Salvation.
Switching from legend to history-Emperor Constantine took
control of the western Roman Empire after the Battle of Milvian Bridge in
October 312 A.D.[16] In 313 A.D., Constantine ended the
persecution of Christians. Moreover, by
323 A.D., he controlled the whole Roman Empire.
Christianity was no longer persecuted.
In another 57 years, Nicene Christianity became the favored religion of
the Roman Empire.
Supposedly, in 325 A.D., Constantine’s aged mother,
Helena, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land trying to locate sites associated
with the life and death of Jesus. According
to the Golden Legend, on finding Golgotha, she ordered the
removal of the pagan temple to Aphrodite that Emperor Hadrian had built on the
site of the Second Temple.[17] There Helena found three crosses and the nails
used at the Crucifixion. Not knowing
which one of the tree crosses was the true cross, a young man with a fatal
illness was brought to the site. When he
touched the third cross, he was healed. So
the third cross was identified as the “true cross.”[18] On this site, a magnificent church (the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre) was built.[19]
Observations on the Green Wood Cross
The roughly hewn green wood crucifix atop the Jesse Tree
window at Wells Cathedral recalls Jesus’ death upon a wooden cross but also Old
Testament images of trees and the pious legends. (Figure 98.) These fanciful legends helped to link the
symbolism of Jesus Christ as the second Adam whose death on a wooden cross
reconciled us with God. (Romans 5:12-21
and 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.) Thus the
wood of the Cross, referred to by the Apostle Paul as the Tree of Salvation, is
linked metaphorically with the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, with
the shoot from Jesse’s stump, and Jeremiah’s prophecy of the righteous branch. This linked imagery undoubtedly was the
source for the green crucifix that is at the top of the Jesse window in Wells
Cathedral (1340) and the restored green cross crucifixion atop the Jesse Tree
window at Bristol. (Figure 29.)
Figure 98. Detail of crucifix that is the top center panel of the Jesse Tree in Wells Cathedral. The window made about 1340. The green wood of the cross is rough and a leaf appears to be growing from the top.[21]
 |
| Detail of Bristol Cathedral Jesse Tree window with 20th-century crucifixion window.http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Bristol-Cathedral/images/Ew-IMG_3420.JPG |
The earliest surviving green wood cross is an ink
drawing, Anglo-Saxon in origin, and is found in a manuscript called the Prayerbook
of Ælfwine, made at New Minster, Winchester. The prayer book is dated to 1023-30, and
written in Latin and Old English, and is now located in the British Library.
(Figure 99.)[20] (Cotton MS Titus D XXVI.)
Figure 99.
Prayerbook of Ælfwine. Jesus Christ crucified on a green wood cross. St. Mary to the left and the Apostle John to
the right. Above are two angels holding torches
crowned with sunrays and crescent moon.
These figures are a carry-over from Byzantine iconography.. The hand of God is at the top center. Cotton Titus D. XXVII, f.65v. made
c.1023-1035. British Library.
Ælfwine was a Dean and later abbot of the Minster. The prayer book was for his personal use and
may have been written out in part by the Dean himself, as well as other
scribes. In the 80 surviving pages, there are three drawings including the
crucifixion with St. Mary, the Apostle John, two angels crown with sun and
crescent moon, and hand of God. Jesus is
dressed in a loincloth and his head is inclined to the Virgin. Jesus is still alive in the scene. This arrangement of figures developed in
western art in the 9th century.[23] The angels above the arms of the cross are
derived from Byzantine models, especially carved ivories of the crucifixion.[24] The tradition of angels at the presence at
the crucifixion was known to Carolingian artists and writers such as Rabanus
Maurus (c.780-856), Bishop of Mainz, author of De laudibus sanctae crucis. Bishop Rabanus wrote about the tradition,
“[angels] were present at the time of his Passion and Resurrection with the
service they owed to him.”[25] In the
Prayerbook of Ælfwine, the wood of the crucifix is not brown or yellow but
green, living wood, the tree of life, or arbor vitae or lignum vita.[26] This is a remarkable addition to the
iconography.
With minor changes this arrangement of figures with Jesus
still alive become the standard presentation of the crucifixion, though a sun
and moon were drawn instead of angels crowned with sun and moon. The sun is usually to Jesus’ right and the
moon to his left. The oldest extant
crucifix with a dead Jesus is the Gero Crucifix dated to 965-970 in the Cologne
Cathedral. From 1000, the crucifix with
the dead Jesus replaced the cross with the still living Jesus.
The Gero Cricifix is the oldest one north of the alps. It was made about 965-970. The Baroque surround was added in 1683. The figure is 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) high, and the span of its arms is 165 cm (5 ft 5 in).
The fact that Winchester was the site for the production
of these green wood crosses can be shown by other examples. The Tiberius Psalter, dated to 1050,
was made at Winchester. In this
miniature, the side of Jesus is being pieced with a lance held by a Roman
soldier as told in John 19.34. (See
Figure 100.)
Figure 100. Crucifixion scene from Tiberius Psalter. The side of the lifeless Jesus is pieced by a Roman soldier. Another hands up a sponge on a reed. Cotton Tiberius C. VI, f.13r. 1050. British Library.[22] http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_tiberius_c_vi_f%20s013r
The soldier piercing the side is given the legendary name of Longinus and the Roman soldier giving Jesus
the sponge on the reed is called Stephaton, though neither has any scriptural
basis.
Two other rough green wood crosses appear in manuscripts
dated to the 1060s and 1070s. The
Arundel psalter MS 60 in the British Library was made in Winchester about 1073.[27] The wooden plank cross is drawn to emphasize
the coarseness of the hewn wood and not a living tree trunk. St. Mary and the Apostle John are also
included, as are the sun and moon.[28] The drawing was placed at the beginning of
the psalter, presumably as an aid for prayer. (Figure 101) The placement of one or more illuminations
before the psalms seems to have originated in England before the practice
spread to continental Europe.
Figure 101. The Arundel Psalter seems to have been a personal prayer book. It was made at Winchester, England about 1061. Arundel Psalter f.12v., British Library.[37]
Another example of a green wood tree trunk cross can be found
in a missal referred to as the Red Book of Darley, MS 422, in the library at
Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. [29] This painting, dates to
1061, has a roughly cut branch tree cross.
The crucified Jesus is hanging on the Tree-like cross. The tree appears to be sprouting a branch
from the trunk of the cross. On the left is the Virgin Mary holding her
gown to her face as though she is crying.
Above a dove carries a wreath in its beak.[30] Jesus is awake and looking at his mother.
(See Figure 102)
Figure 102. Red Book of Darley MS 422 p. 54. Missal. Corpus Christi College, Parker Library, Cambridge . c. 1061 with Latin and Old English. Drawing and painting are faint in places. A possibly bearded Jesus crucified on a green wood cross with Virgin Mary to the left. Virgin holds her robe to her face, as though crying. Above, a dove carries a wreath in its beak Missal probably made at Sherborne Abbey or New Minster, Winchester, in the 1060s. http://parkerweb.stanford.edu/parker/actions/thumbnail_view.do?size=basic&ms_no=422&page=53
The abbey at the New Minster at Winchester, Hampshire,
England was founded as a royal abbey in 901 by King Alfred. It became Benedictine in 966. The abbey flourished under Bishop Æthelwold
in the 10th century and became known for its scriptorium. There developed the Winchester style noted by
art historians that included “agitated” drapery as seen in Figures 99-101. The style picks up late classical elements
such as acanthus leaves but adds “barbaric” zoomorphic animals with herbaceous
s tails.[31] The green wood crosses seem to be part of the
tradition.
The rough-hewn and lopped branch tree crosses did not
suddenly appear at Winchester and Canterbury just before and immediately after
the Norman Conquest. Jennifer O’Reilly in “The Rough-Hewn Cross in Anglo-Saxon
Art” argues that the lopped branch or rough cut style of wood cross that
appears in the Prayerbook of Ælfwine and the Tiberius Psalter as well as the
Gospel book of Judith of Flanders is not a new development at Winchester in the
11th century. The lopped
branch tree had a much longer tradition, The lopped branch tree was a
“conventional” way to show living trees in late Anglo-Saxon art. [32]
The hewn cross may have deeper roots in Byzantine art
though this has not been traced. A more
probable immediate precedent is the tau cross illuminated as the Tree of Life
that is derived from the opening “T” in the canon of the mass,“Te igitur.”[33]
Another intermediate example might be the lopped tree trunks cross in the Psalter, Harley MS 603 made
in Canterbury about 1010-1020 or so.[34] At Canterbury, a scribe
Eadui Basan (Fat Eadui) sometime between 1010 and 1030 completed the Harley MS 603 Psalter. See f.12, [35]
 |
Harley MS 603 f. 12 This brown ink drawing is hard to understand. The rough-hewn cross is right of center behind a spear. It illuminates Vulgate Psalm 21/KJV Psalm 22 "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The pen drawing illustrating the themes of Psalm 21/22, including (1) the
lamentation of the Psalmist, who is shown holding two vials, and is attacked by
bulls, dogs, lions and unicorns (lower right), (2) prophetic images of Christ’s
passion including an empty cross and two men dividing a garment (centre) and
(3) praise to heaven, represented by the tabernacle with the meek eating at a
circular table and seven women seated with babies (perhaps the seed of Israel).
Origin: England, S. E. (Canterbury), Christ Church
Cathedral Priory
|
The
roughly made cross illustration accompanies Vulgate psalm 21/KJV 22, read so often on Goof Friday. The illustration that shows a roughly made cross with a crown of thorns on the
right arm. The cross is drawn in brown
ink. There are long spears and soldiers
throwing lots for a robe. There is a
sponge on a spear. There appears to be a whip hanging from the cross as
well. In short, the illustration is of
the instruments of Christ’s passion. In
other illustrations, there are lobbed branch trees that are part of the
landscape and are not in any way associated with the cross.[36] So the lopped branch tree was a design in use
for living trees that was transferred to the cross to emphasize the cross as
the tree of life.
|
|
The green wood cross was not limited to Winchester. The Eadwine Psalter was made at the Christ Church Priory of Canterbury about 1155-1160.(Figures 103-107)[38] It is a sumptuously illuminated psalter that is housed at Trinity College Library, Cambridge University. The psalter is written in Latin in three different versions and glossed in Old English and Anglo-Norman. “It contains a Calendar, triple Psalter, Canticles, two continuous commentaries, two prognostications, a marginal image of Halley's Comet (recorded in 1147), a diagrammatic representation of Christ Church's waterworks, and a full page [picture] of Eadwine, the prince of scribes.”[39] At least 13 scribes have been identified as writing or illustrating the psalter.
There were four leaves of illuminations where the scenes
were set in frames that became detached from the manuscript and are located now
in New York and England.[40] One of these leaves from the Victoria and
Albert Museum collection is shown in Figures 103. There is also one leaf in the Morgan Library
in New York City. The leaf at the
V&A shows the story of Jesus’ trial, mocking and scourging. This is followed by scenes of Jesus carrying
the cross, the Crucifixion and Deposition, the removal of the body, from the
cross. Note the green color of the
crosses. (See Figure 103 and following
diagram.) Scholars speculate that
because of the difference between the upper two rows and lower two rows; two
artists must have completed the illuminations.
The remainder of the psalter is located at Trinity
College Library, Cambridge. The psalter
has scenes scattered throughout the text, usually to illustrate some part of
the text. These were done by an artist
(who may or may not have been a monk) referred to as the Principal
Illustrator. Some of the old-fashioned
quality of the ink illustrations can be attributed to the fact that the Eadwine
Psalter was based upon the 9th century Utrecht Psalter and the 11th
century Harley Psalter 603.[41]
The Utrecht Psalter is a benchmark when art historians
discuss and write about early medieval art.
The Psalter was probably made at the abbey at Hautvilliers, near Reims
in the 830s. The Utrecht Psalter is
illustrated in monochrome ink. By 1000
it had been brought to Christ Church, Canterbury. Sometime later scribe Eadui Basan made the
copy of the Utrecht Psalter related to
the Harley MS 603. Eadui Basan’s
introduced the use of colored inks for illustrating a psalter.
There
is another manuscript related to the Harley MS 603 psalter. It is the Liber Vitae of the New
Minster and Hyde Abbey at Winchester.
This book opens with an illustration of King Cnut and his wife Emma or
Ælgyfu giving a large gold and enameled altar cross to the New Minster.[42] This rich and shiny cross is a long way from
the humble green lopped wooden crosses of this discussion. The contrast was not lost of the monks and
clerics who had the occasion to see and read the books.
Miniature of King Cnut and Queen Aelfgifu (also called
Emma) before a large gold cross on an altar. Above them, angels hold a veil
over Aelfgifu, a crown over Cnut, and gesture upwards toward an image of Christ
in Majesty in a mandorla holding an open book, flanked by Mary and Peter. Below
the feet of the king and queen are monks looking upward within arches.
Origin: England,
S. W. (Winchester) British Library Stowe 944 f.6.
http://www.bl.uk/IllImages/BLCD/mid/c138/c13834-75.jpg
The Eadwine Psalter is illustrated with colored inks.[43] There are at least four scenes with green
wood crosses within the text of the Eadwine psalter. The first green cross in the manuscript is
the lopped branch style cross found on f.036v. (Figure 99 It is part of an illustration for Psalm 21
(Vulgate) (Deus Deus meus respice me; quare me dereliquisti longe a salute
mea verba delictorum
meorum) and Psalm 22 (KJV) “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from
helping me?” The illustration is the
Good Friday or Passion scene. It is very
similar to Eadui Basan’s illustration
Harley MS 603 f.12. Both have
rough crosses though they are different.
The cross in the Eadwine Psalter is green and the Harley Psalter is
brown. The tree cross in the Eadwine
Psalter has spikey projections to indicate branches that were cut off. The Harley Psalter has bowing and the
suggestion of twisting in the wood and
only faint projections from the trunk to tell the viewer that limbs have been
removed from the tree. Both scenes
illustrate the instruments of Christ’s passion included the lance, sponge with
vinegar, crown of thorns, whip, and cross.
The scenes are so similar, it suggests that the illustrator of the
Eadwine Psalter had seen or had access to
the Harley Psalter, if not the Utrecht Psalter. Thus, the rough cross of f. 036v in the Eadwine Psalter
is a member of the style of lopped branch style of cross found in 11th
century Winchester illuminations.
Diagram
1. Scriptural reference for each panel
of London, Victoria and Albert Museum MS 816-1894 (Figure 103bove)[45]
Reference
to Authorized (King James) Version of Bible.
John 18.3
|
John 18.22
|
John 18.24
|
Luke 22.55
|
Luke 22.62
|
John 18.16
|
Luke 22.66
|
Luke 22.63
|
John 19.2-3
|
John 19.1
|
||
Luke 23.25
Green cross
|
Luke 23.32-33
Three green crosses
|
John 19.31-37
Green cross
|
Luke 23.26
Green cross
|
John 19.29
Green cross, two brown crosses (?)
|
Matthew 28.51
|
John 19 & Luke 23
Crucifixion with green cross
|
John
19.38
|
Luke 23.53
Descent from the Cross
Green cross.
|
Joseph of Arimathaea
leads holy women to descent from the Cross.
|
The other green crosses in the Eadwine Psalter are Latin crosses. The illumination on page 207r is for Psalm 115 (Vulgate) (alleluia credidi propter quod locutus sum ego autem humiliatus sum nimis) or Psalm 116.10 (KJV) (I believed, therefore have I spoken.). The illustration is 207r has a smooth cross but it is topped with a crown. In the scene, St. Mary and the Apostle John are on a right of the cross and a man on the left of the scene collects the blood from Jesus in a chalice or bowl, linking the blood with the wine of the Eucharist. At a lower level stand the soldier with the lance.
Figure 105. Trinity College Library, Cambridge. R. 17.1 f.207r. This is part of the illustration for Psalm 115 (Vulgate and Douay-Rheims) alleluia credidi (Psalm 116.10 I believed, therefore have I spoken, KJV).[47]. The man on the left is collecting the blood of Jesus in a bowl. John the Apostle and St Mary are to the right. The man with the lance, Longimus, is below the cross. Note the flowering cross on the mountain on the right. The second is the detail from R. 17.1 f.207r.
Figure 105. Trinity College Library, Cambridge. R. 17.1 f.207r. This is part of the illustration for Psalm 115 (Vulgate and Douay-Rheims) alleluia credidi (Psalm 116.10 I believed, therefore have I spoken, KJV).[47]. The man on the left is collecting the blood of Jesus in a bowl. John the Apostle and St Mary are to the right. The man with the lance, Longimus, is below the cross. Note the flowering cross on the mountain on the right. The second is the detail from R. 17.1 f.207r.
Eadwine Psalter 268r is the illumination that begins the Song of Habakkuk from Habakkuk 3 (Domine audivi auditionem tuam et timui or “O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid.”) The drawing includes Jesus Christ crucified on a green cross between the two thieves on brown crosses.
Figure 106. Detail of 268r. Christ crucified on green cross and thieves on brown crosses[48] This is the illustration above the Song of Abacuc or Habakkuk. Abacuc 3.2 Domine audivi auditionem tuam. (Habakkuk 3.2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid.” This a very complex illustration includes the birth of Jesus, center left followed by the whipping of Jesus and his crucifixion with the two thieves. The far right is the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven with the hand of God reaching for him. The top is a Harrowing of Hell when Jesus Christ kills the devil with the releasing of souls. Note that a long rope is extended to a man in Hell. The lower right may be Revelation 6. 1-6 and the 4 horses.
The fourth green cross is from an illumination that falls between the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed. At first glance, the illumination on f.279r resembles 268 r. Beginning at bottom left, there are souls being raised from the dead. The middle is the empty tomb with the angel and the three holy women including Mary Magdelene who spotted the empty tomb and ran to the disciples. At the right Jesus Christ is rescuing souls. The middle row has scenes from the Passion, Christ before Pontius Pilate, Crucifixion with Mary to the right of Jesus and John to the left, and the Ascension of Jesus Again Jesus is nailed to a green wood cross. The top is Christ in Glory with his mother Mary and angels.
Figure 107. Detail from f.279r, The prologue and text of the Lord’s Prayer are at top of page and Apostle’s Creed at the bottom of the page in Eadwine’s Psalter. Note the green cross in the crucifixion scene with two soldiers. One soldier on the left has pieced Jesus’ right side and the one on the right is lifting a reed with vinegar.[49]
The Eadwine Psalter was a mid-12th century manuscript still influenced by what were old styles at the time of production. The tradition of the green rough cross was kept alive so that the green wood cross was still in the awareness of the artists and glassmakers at the time that the Well’s Cathedral Jesse Tree window made in the 1340s.
In the Morgan Library in New York an English Psalter there is English Psalter probably made in London about 1225. B1 348 D MS G. 0025. 2v
These first examples of green crosses are all from books
intended for private prayer and worship, not public presentation. It is not clear how this private devotional
art became transformed into an object for public exhibition and veneration
though the intermediate step might be wall paintings in churches. The next green crosses though show up in
France in painted glass windows.
The first green crosses for public viewing were 12th
century green wood crosses in French stained glass windows in typological and
Passion scene windows..
Two of the oldest green wood crosses in stained glass are found in the
Cathédrale de Notre-Dame, Chartres. They
are in a 12th century lancet Passion window at the west end of the
Cathedral. The Passion window has a scene of
the Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross. (Window # 51/ Delaporte #3).
Figure 108. Crucifixion panel from the Passion window at the west end of the nave at Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres or simply Chartres Cathedral. http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w51-7-70290.JPG
Figure 109. Descent from the Cross. Passion Window. [# 51/Delaporte #3] a man holds the body of Jesus with Mary weeping to the right of Jesus and John on the left.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w51-8-70297.JPG
There is another set of green cross in the typological Redemptopm window, Window # 37/Delaporte 59 on the north side of the nave at the crossing. The window which reads from top to bottom, not the usual bottom has both 12th and reconstructed 19th century green crosses. The first is the Via Crucis.
Figure 110. Redemption window, panel #6, Window #37/Delaporte 59. The way of the Cross. This panel is a 19th-century reconstruction by M.Alexandre Pintard.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w37_6_mod_10824.jpg
The Crucifixion panel #13 of the Redemption Window at Chartres is another 19th-century restoration by Alexandre Pintard.
Figure 111. Crucifixion panel #13 of the Redemption window #37/Delaporte 59. It is another panel restored by Alexandre Pintard. Notice how he used ovals to denote the branches removed.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w37_13_mod_10822.jpg
Figure 112. Redemption window, Window #34/Delaporte 59. Panel # 20 Deposition from the Cross. A man holds the body of Jesus while a soldier pulls out the nails anchoring the ankles. Mary is holding Jesus'right hand tenderly while John just waits in mourning. 12th or early 13th century. Notice the circles to give some roughness to the cross.
The Cathedral of St. Stephen, Chalons-en-Champagne has a 12th-century crucifixion panel in a typological window of the Redemption. The window is B in the Treasury. Of the four panels that surround the central one two are scenes from the Old Testament and two are allegorical. The top part is the Church Triumphant andbthe bottom is the Synagogue defeated.
[This dates from a time when anti-Semitism was rising within the Catholic Church.] In the left panel
Abraham binds Isaac and in the right panel Moses lifts up the bronze serpent. This imagery was common in the typology of the Biblia Pauperum .[50]
Figure 113. Treasury Window B of the Chalons-en-Champagne cathedral. The window dates from 1137-1148. Left is Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac and the right is the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up. It is a reference to John 3.14.And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (NRSV)http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chalons-cath/images/ws-C12-IMG_0289a.jpg
Cathedral of St. Stephen, Chalon-en-Champagne Window 200 has a crucifixion scene with a green cross.dated to 1230-37 Clearly some restoration work has been done to try to mitigate the corrosions of the glass.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w51-8-70297.JPG
There is another set of green cross in the typological Redemptopm window, Window # 37/Delaporte 59 on the north side of the nave at the crossing. The window which reads from top to bottom, not the usual bottom has both 12th and reconstructed 19th century green crosses. The first is the Via Crucis.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w37_6_mod_10824.jpg
The Crucifixion panel #13 of the Redemption Window at Chartres is another 19th-century restoration by Alexandre Pintard.
Figure 111. Crucifixion panel #13 of the Redemption window #37/Delaporte 59. It is another panel restored by Alexandre Pintard. Notice how he used ovals to denote the branches removed.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w37_13_mod_10822.jpg
The Cathedral of St. Stephen, Chalons-en-Champagne has a 12th-century crucifixion panel in a typological window of the Redemption. The window is B in the Treasury. Of the four panels that surround the central one two are scenes from the Old Testament and two are allegorical. The top part is the Church Triumphant andbthe bottom is the Synagogue defeated.
[This dates from a time when anti-Semitism was rising within the Catholic Church.] In the left panel
Abraham binds Isaac and in the right panel Moses lifts up the bronze serpent. This imagery was common in the typology of the Biblia Pauperum .[50]
Figure 113. Treasury Window B of the Chalons-en-Champagne cathedral. The window dates from 1137-1148. Left is Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac and the right is the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up. It is a reference to John 3.14.And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (NRSV)http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chalons-cath/images/ws-C12-IMG_0289a.jpg
Cathedral of St. Stephen, Chalon-en-Champagne Window 200 has a crucifixion scene with a green cross.dated to 1230-37 Clearly some restoration work has been done to try to mitigate the corrosions of the glass.
Figure 114. Chalons-en-Champage Cathedral Window 200. Made 1230-1237.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chalons-cath/images/w200-B2-IMG_0470.JPG
The parish church of St. Germain that dates from the 12th century built on an even older Carolingian foundation. It has a crucifixion window that recalls the illuminated manuscripts such as the one above from the Morgan Library as wells as the Aelfwine Psalter and Arundel Psalter. This window is to found in the tiny church of Civray-de-Touraine.
Figure 115, Parish church of St. Germaine in Civray-de-Touraine. Window 0 13th century. The window shows much corrosion of the window.
The Cathdrale de Notre Dame de Laon or Laon Cathedral also has a couple green wood cross scenes that date from1210- 1215. They are in the central lancet window #0 at the east end of the Cathedral. Panel 12 depicts Jesus carrying the cross. Panel 13 is the Crucifixion.
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Laon/images/w0-12-576A2173.JPG
http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Laon/images/w0-13-576A2175.JPG
Figure 115. Top panel panel 12- Jesus carrying the cross. Bottom panel 13-the Crucifixion with Mary to Jesus' right and John to the left. Window 0 is a lancet at the east end of the cathedral. The windows date from 1210-1215.
A photo of the whole east end of Laon Cathedral with the lancets and the rose window above.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Rose_Choeur_Cath%C3%A9drale_de_Laon_150808_2.jpg/800px-Rose_Choeur_Cath%C3%A9drale_de_Laon_150808_2.jpg
Here ends Part I. Part II will pick up with Tours Cathedral
