Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid, Spain

ABOUT THE WORK

Ivory crucifixes of the 17th century are very rare, more so if they exceed 12” in height. This 28” one made in the Parian is one of several carved by the same sculptor. (There is a 24” one formerly in the Martin Imperial Tinio, Jr. now in the Maria Teresa Lammoglia Virata Collection and another on display at the Treasury of Notre Dame in Paris.) The Cristo has well defined Oriental features with eyes that are heavy lidded and bulging with a pronounced brow ridge typical of those made in the 17th century. The Christ corpus follows the Eastern perspective, wherein the legs are shorter and the arms longer in relation to the trunk. The Christ wears a crown of thorns that is carved as one with the head, a significant feature of 17th-century Cristos that disappeared in the 18th century. In this instance, the crown is rendered as three intertwined vines with protruding thorns that is carved as an integral part of the head which is consistent with 17th century renderings. In the 19th century, the crown of thorns reappeared, but they were made of silver or gilded metal and were merely placed on the head. The perizonium, the cloth wrap-around locally called tapis or bahag, is wrapped around Christ’s loins in a symmetrical, horizontal fashion terminating in a V-shaped point at the groin, a form that appears nowhere else but in 17th-century images of the crucified Christ carved in the Philippines. In the 18th century, the ‘V’ would become softer, less defined and rounder at the apex. A piece of fabric left hanging in the center of the cloth, crossing vertically down the center of the perizonium to the groin is an uncommon treatment to the perizonium unique to the 17th century. This treatment is attributed to the Flemish influence, since much of the early art of the Philippines was derived from religious tracts printed in the Netherlands. It disappeared in the 18th century, never to return. - From the archives of Martin I. Tinio, Jr.