Crucifix – Devotional Cross In Cast Lead – Folk Art, Massif Central – Haute époque

Late 15th – Early 16th century – Haute Époque France – Massif Central Small domestic piety cross, entirely cast in lead, in a single cast, in a mold without reworking. The slightly irregular structure betrays the work of a village workshop, according to an archaic process of direct casting with two valves. The metal has a dense, gray patina, with a matte fracture, marked by fine cracks and the greasy appearance specific to old lead. The Christ, with his rough modeling, stands in a rigid verticality, without twisting of the bust or movement of the hips. The arms, spread at right angles, rise in an almost frontal position, without lateral imbalance. This arrangement, where the body blends into the line of the shaft, is characteristic of crucifixes in the late Gothic tradition, still imbued with the medieval canon. It contrasts with the expressive realism of the Christs of the 17th century, where the body bends and collapses under the weight of death. Here, everything remains contained, symbolic, and hieratic. The figure of the Crucified is not that of the tortured but that of the Redeemer, in a pose of motionless glory—the image of a triumphant Christ, according to the visual theology in use until the end of the 15th century. The absence of a visible crown, the haloed head without falling, confirm this interpretation: the sculptor does not represent suffering, but the sovereignty of the Incarnate Word. On the crosspiece, signs of the instruments of the Passion, now partially erased by the passage of time—rhythm the composition. Lines, circles, and simplified crosses form a naive votive language, typical of the apotropaic expressions of popular statuary. At the bottom of the upright, the praying Virgin, hands clasped beneath the veil, rests on a crescent moon. This arrangement, of great sobriety, takes up the theme of the Virgo in oratione—intercession of the Mother at the foot of the Sacrifice. The crescent, a symbol of purity, places the scene in the Marian theology of the late Middle Ages. The base, molded in steps, is of the same cast iron. It links the cross to the typology of table crosses or private prayers, but the absence of a fixing hole suggests that it could also be fixed in a secondary altar or a votive deposit. By its simplicity of form and the density of its material, this work is in line with the continuity of medieval cast crucifixes. It testifies to a plastic language that remained unchanged in the workshops of the Massif Central until the Renaissance: an art of immediate faith, where the poverty of the material becomes a sign of humility and spiritual persistence. Condition: very beautiful old patina, minimal wear from use, slight crack in the lead. Dimensions: height 24 cm All deliveries are made exclusively by DHL Express.