Not far from the Cathedral is an antique store - Widow at Windsor - that I pass frequenly on my walks. In the front window a large wooden crucifix from the 1800s has caught my eye so this morning I decided to pop in and take a look around.
I had a nice conversation with the proprietor during which he asked if I knew when the skull and cross bones stopped being placed on crucifixes.
I'm not certain, and wonder if you any of you good readers do.
There is a pious legend that teaches that our Lord was Crucified on the hill over the tomb of Adam. In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, there is the Chapel of Adam, marking the site of his grave, directly below Calvary. The skull and bones, usually at the base of the Cross calls this to mind. For pictures, see http://www.360cities.net/image/chapel-of-adam-the-church-of-the-holy-sepulchre-jerusalem#-209.28,12.46,110.0
ReplyDeleteHmm... I certainly don't know the answer to that, but in the exhibit currently at the Meadows Museum at SMU, http://www.smu.edu/News/2011/meadows-manuscripts-exhibit-20jan2011.aspx I do remember seeing the many the skulls & crossbones in the Manuscripts...
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