Spazio liturgico e rappresentazione del sacro : crocifissi monumentali d’età romanica a Napoli e in Campania

Abstract

Eleven wooden crucifixes from the Romanesque period survive in Naples and the Campania region. The article discusses their liturgical function based on visual and literary sources. The Christus triumphans from Mirabella Eclano provides an excellent example of the meaning assigned to monumental crucifixes within the liturgical setting of the church during the 12th century. Three documents (11th to 13th centuries) attest to special types of donations “pro remedio animae” offered to the crucifix in Naples, where peculiar institutions devoted to veneration of the cross existed since the 9th century. The city has preserved one of the largest surviving groups of medieval crucifixes in Italy that testifies to their varied iconography, size and typology.