This cross came from the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo in 1920. It depicts scenes from the old and new testaments on the surface of the cross and the pedestal. There are around twenty similar versions of this so-called post-Byzantine altar cross in various museums, which are all technically and typologically similar and datable to around the 16th century. There are slight differences, though, in their relative sizes, in the inscriptions and iconographic representations (J. Rozycki, Ein unbekanntes Werk des Georgios Laskaris: das geschnitzte Kreuz im Museum der Fürsten Czartoryski Krakau, in “Byzantina et Slavica Cracoviensia” 2, 1994, pp. 83-96; A. Pontani, Croci lignee d'altare postbizantine conservate in Italia e in Austria, in "Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik", 46, 1996 [1997], pp. 379-421; V. H. Elbern, Die holzgeschnitzten postbyzantinischen Sockelkreuze des 16. Jahrhundert, in "Oriens Christianus", 92, 2008, pp. 187-240.) This is also true for the seven crosses that carry the signature of the same artist, Giorgio Lascaris, executed between 1551 and 1583. The biblical and evangelical scenes that are depicted in the niches are accompanied with Greek inscriptions, which serve as explanatory notes. The cross in the Palazzo comunale of Sant’Oreste in Rome, for example, is very close to the Palazzo Venezia version (A. Paribeni, In margine al “Corpus degli oggetti bizantini in Italia”: la croce lignea di Sant’Oreste, in "Bisanzio, la Grecia e l’Italia. Atti della giornata di studi sulla civiltà artistica bizantina in onore di Mara Bonfioli", ed. A. Iacobini, Rome 2003, pp. 119-126). Usually on an authentic cross, the dodekaorton is represented to varying degrees, between 16 and 22 scenes; here there are 20. Often there are bass-relief scenes carved above and below the arms of the cross, as is the case here. On the pedestal scenes from the Old Testament are usually present to differing degrees (though always include the Creation and the Sin of Adam and Eve; Cain and Abel; Noah; Abraham; Isaac; Jacob; Joseph in Egypt; Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt), or the Passion cycle. The carved wooden pedestal, which allows the crosses to be placed on the altar, sets these works apart from the vast production of other post-Byzantine crosses. Usually the pedestal is split into four segments: the lower part is an octagonal base, and the others sit on top. Here the pedestal has 3 segments divided into 5 parts, containing 32 niches and resting on a base that is divided into 8 parts carved with various scenes. In general the sequence of the scenes begins from the lower part, but it does not always follow in the given order. Although these works are often signed and dated under the pedestal, the inscription on the Palazzo Venezia version is difficult to interpret: SIDVS. E/ ST PRONO/ BIS ET DCON/ TRA. NO/ S. The work is in good condition. Technical-scientific analysis carried out in 2009 by IVALSA-CNR in Florence identified the material used as maple wood (Acer sp.).

Grazia Maria Fachechi 

Unpublished