Unknown Ethiopian artist

Processional Cross, 16th century, Bronze, 47 x 35 x 3 cm, The British Museum, London; Previous owner/ex-collection: Sir Richard Rivington Holmes, Af1868,1001.16, ©️ The Trustees of the British Museum

Lifting Our Eyes to the Cross

Commentary by Mark Scarlata

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This sixteenth-century Ethiopian processional cross combines the motifs of Moses’s bronze serpent with the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Cast in bronze, the cross bears a subtle glow, but when fully polished it would gleam brightly in the light.

The large central cross frames an intricately patterned area made up of small interlaced cross motifs. By contrast, the crosses that protrude upwards and to left and right of the central cross, as well as the curved design at its base, incorporate serpentine curls. Though there is no figurative depiction of a serpent here, nevertheless these abstract forms draw our imaginations to Moses’s serpent in the wilderness and the healing it provided.

Though currently housed in the British Museum, this cross was designed for liturgical purposes. The procession of the cross towards the altar at the beginning of the eucharistic liturgy is a sign of Christ’s presence entering the church. Worshippers cast their glance upward to recognize and acknowledge the healing power of Christ who was once lifted up on the cross. This liturgical ritual is a reminder of Christ’s victory over death and the healing and restoration he brings to all creation.

The Israelites, too, may have lifted their eyes to the bronze serpent during worship. In later religious reforms under king Hezekiah, Moses’s bronze serpent (Nehushtan) was destroyed (2 Kings 18:4). It is probable that the religious artifact was erected in the Temple courtyard where daily sacrifices were made. The proximity of the icon to the altar may have led the Israelites to believe they were offering sacrifices to the serpent rather than to YHWH and thus to confuse their true source of healing.

The prophets were also aware of the healing traditions associated with the bronze serpent. According to Isaiah (14:29; 30:6), a seraph was a flying serpent, and it becomes the agent of healing and purification in his Temple vision (Isaiah 6:5–7; Levine 2000: 87). This offers a link to the winged, healing serpent of Moses which the artist alludes to in the Ethiopian processional cross, recalling Christ’s gift of healing to the world.

 

References

Levine, Baruch. 2000. Numbers 21–36 (New York: Doubleday)

See full exhibition for Numbers 21:1–9

Numbers 21:1–9

Revised Standard Version

21 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, “If thou wilt indeed give this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” 3And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and gave over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; so the name of the place was called Hormah.

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

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