Provenance: Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Every house during the colonial period had an altar with a cross, with the more affluent households having crucifixes with the corpus carved in ivory. This ivory crucifix is of an unusually large size and must have belonged to a very rich family. The corpus follows the curve of the ivory tusk and is beautifully carved in the Cristo Expirante or ‘expiring’ pose. The former is in perfect condition and shows Christ looking up to heaven with Hsi mouth gently open and displaying finely carved teeth. He seems to be asking God, “Why hast Thou abandoned Me?” The exquisitely carved face has heavy-lidded eyes that are exceptionally well carved and a beard with every strand of hair delineated. The image was originally meant to wear a wig of human hair, which is missing, but as is usually the case, the pate has been painted brown with a hairline above the forehead. Also missing are the crown of thorns worn around the forehead and the trespotencias, the three rays emanating from the pate that symbolize Christ’s potencies or power. These must have also been originally of gold-plated silver. The ivory corpus wears a gold-plated silver perizonium or loincloth, locally called a bahag or tapis, elaborately embossed and chased. Due to the fact that it was not usually visible to the viewe,r the bow on the side is not as skillfully made, being rather flat and lacking a sense of movement. The image is nailed to a simple kamagong cross with golden nails set with a large faux diamond. The use of gems on nails is a feature usually found on crucifixes made after the mid-19th century. The upper ends of the cross are appliqued with silver-gilt terminals called cantoneras and a large magnificent INRI. The former, shaped like a convex half-oval, has an outer border consisting of a series of buds and an inner one of a flower flanked by leafy scrolls on a swallow-tailed ground. The former is embossed and chased with a large central flower flanked by a leaf scroll. The shield-shaped INRI, however, is bordered by swags of highly embossed and chased flowers and leaves. Most crucifixes have a skull at the bottom part of the cross. It is the symbol of Golgotha or the ‘Place of Skulls, where Christ was crucified. It is now missing and has been replaced, instead, by an ivory head of a winged cherub carved in relief. -Martin I. Tinio, Jr.