The Cross is the Glory of Christ
As we approach the Sunday of Christ the King, I thought I would feature the award-winning Crucifixion painted by the English Catholic artist Martin Earle. This choice may surprise some who are expecting an image of Christ Enthroned, such as the one at the foot of this article (also by Martin Earle). I chose this Crucifixion because the artist decided to entitle it Rex Gloriae—King of Glory—a title that I think is wholly appropriate.
This wonderful painting hangs in the Cathedral in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is painted in egg tempera on a gessoed wooden panel. It is two-sided, with the same image repeated on each side. This allows it to be hung over the altar so that both the congregation and those in the sanctuary will see the image as they worship.
It encapsulates Salvation History in five images, representing Christ's life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.
First, in the main picture, we see the inscription Rex Glo, which stands for Rex Gloriae, the King of Glory. This draws our attention to the Kingship of Christ commemorated in the Church on the Solemnity of Christ the King, the last Sunday before Advent. Christ was crucified precisely because he claimed to be a king, and Pilate wrote the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (not shown on this cross but often represented by the first letters of the Latin version, INRI). Pilate wrote this to give legal justification for his execution of an authority who might be perceived as a threat to Roman rule.
As Christians, we know that Christ was always king by his divine nature as the Son of God, and he became king by his victory over death and suffering through his crucifixion and now by a nomination from an earthly authority. Accordingly, in the creed, we profess that Christ is king because of his divine nature as "God from God and Light from Light" and because he was "crucified under Pontius Pilate."
Accompanying Christ are Mary the Mother of God and St John the Evangelist on the left, and on the right, in accordance with the Gospel of John, we see Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas. The male figure on the right is the soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a spear, fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy:
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born. (Zechariah 12:10)
This centurion is the soldier who came to us in tradition as St Longinus, recognised Our Lord as the Son of God in an act of faith. Tradition identifies this figure as Longinus, who became a bishop and saint in the early Church. From the pierced side flow blood and water, symbolising the Eucharist and Baptism.
Considering now the minor images:
On the left is the Nativity, which reminds us of the life of Christ and the mystery of the incarnation and of Mary, the Mother of God, who gave him his humanity. As a point of interest, the stable is portrayed as a cave in a mountain. This reflects the actual local topography and is a visual reference to a prophecy in the Book of Daniel in which the King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream and Daniel, his counsellor, was called to interpret:
“You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces….Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” (Dan 2:34, 45)
The mountain is traditionally interpreted as the Theotokos, and Christ Himself is the stone ‘cut without hands’. This language alludes to the perpetual virginity of the Theotokos. For example, an ancient hymn in the Byzantine liturgy which draws on the traditional teaching of the Church says:
We exalt you, O Theotokos, crying out, “You are the mountain out of which, in a wondrous way, a stone was hewn that crushed the gates of Hades.” (Orthros, Friday, Tone 4)
Below the central figure is the skull in a cave, a reference to Golgotha - 'the place of the skull' - where Christ was crucified, and to his descent to Hell for three days after his entombment by which he freed Adam and Eve and the souls. The cave in this part of the cross echoes the cave which was the stable in the nativity scene. One is the place of his birth, the other of his death. The white swaddling clothes in the nativity scene also become an anticipatory sign of his future death when he will be wrapped in a shroud. The heavenly Christ - in the Ascension then has a brilliant white outer garment, which is the transfigured garment, indicating that not just the person but of all creation - animate and inanimate - participates in the redemption offered to us.
On the right, we see the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb and found it empty, and an angel told them of the resurrection.
Finally, we see the Ascension, when Christ, having appeared to the Apostles, ascended to heaven and took his place at the right hand of the Father.
