Crux gemmata
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A crux gemmata is a form of cross typical of Early Christian and Early Medieval art, where the cross, or at least its front side, is principally decorated with jewels. In an actual cross, rather than
The front side of the Cross of Lothair (c. 1000 AD)
Detail of a mosaic, Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (549).
A gold solidus of Marcian, 450–457.
Santa Pudenziana, Rome, apse mosaic, 384-9
The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe is a church in Classe, Ravenna, Italy, consecrated on 9 May 549 by the bishop Maximian and dedicated to Saint Apollinaris, the first bishop of Ravenna and Cla
Crux gemmata
…force of the opposite persuasion, who helped to popularize images of Christ on the cross. In so-called "mystical" images, such as the apse mosaic at the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (549), the jewelled cross stands specifically as a symbol for Christ. A poem by St Paulinus of Nola allows a reconstruction of a mosaic apse…
The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe
The west front or façade
Apse and tower
Image from the nave