Animated Sculptures of the Crucified Christ: Origins, Development and Impact

Abstract

Animated sculptures of the crucified Christ represent an extremely broad and methodologically intriguing challenge for scholars. Their unusual construction (e.g. moveable arms, legs, head, tongue, eyes, various covers imitating human skin, wigs, receptacles for blood) and the varied functions they fulfilled during the liturgical year make these figures one of the most intriguing manifestations of late medieval piety. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that contemporary study of them should diverge from previous—and still the most common—approaches that concentrate on their use in Depositio Crucis ceremonies, typical for northern parts of medieval Europe. The article shows that the only effective way of analyzing them is to take a genuinely interdisciplinary approach, starting with a radically expanded base of historical evidence and source material. Only thorough studies that combine a reflection on the real substance of their functioning with analysis of their essential character, manifested during various kinds of Good Friday ceremonies as well as across the whole liturgical year, can enhance our knowledge and understanding of the presence and role of these sculptures in the religious consciousness and mentality of the Middle Ages.

Keywords:

• animated sculptures
• Depositio Crucis
• Laudes
• Holy Week ceremonies
• devotion

notes and references

Notes

1 Johannes Taubert’s studies on medieval sculptures, including animated ones, were recently translated from German and published in English (Taubert 2015).

2 Marcinkowski (1994) discusses this issue at length and cites numerous studies, especially German, in which the term “prop” is used in the context of animated sculptures of the crucified Christ.

3 The only truly valuable study of this kind is Tripps (2000).

4 In the context of Chełmno see also the sculpture from Segovia (Carrero Santamaría 1997; Castán Lanaspa 2003; Schmiddunser 2008, 22–24).

5 Recently on this topic, in the context of the devotional and meditational literature of the late Middle Ages, and for miniatures showing people praying in front of crucifixes where Christ’s hands are lowered, see Coman (2017).

6 For recent work on such sculptures see Cavatori (2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., Poland, under Grant 2014/13/D/HS2/00999 (“Passion Panoramas in the Culture of the Late Middle Ages”).

This work was supported by the National Science Center, Poland, under Grant 2014/13/D/HS2/00999 (“Passion Panoramas in the Culture of the Late Middle Ages”).

Notes on contributors

Kamil Kopania

Kamil Kopania, PhD, works at the Institute of Art History of the University of Warsaw and the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw (the Department of Puppetry Art in Białystok). He is interested in the relationship between art and theater in the Middle Ages, the function and reception of works of art in the Middle Ages, the history of European puppet theater, and selected aspects of contemporary art. He is the author of several books as well as numerous articles, including Arsenał sztuki. Galeria Arsenał w Białymstoku i jej Kolekcja II (2006), Animated Sculptures of the Crucified Christ in the Religious Culture of the Latin Middle Ages (2010), and Forma. Barwa. Faktura. O scenografiach Teatru Lalki i Aktora “Kubuś” w Kielcach i ich relacjach z innymi gałęziami sztuk plastycznych (2016), and is editor of Czas Apokalipsy. Koniec dziejów w kulturze od późnego średniowiecza do współczesności (2012), Dolls and Puppets as Artistic and Cultural Phenomena (19th–21st Centuries) (2016), Dolls, Puppets, Sculptures and Living Images. From the Middle Ages to the End of the 18th Century (2017), and Dolls and Puppets: Contemporaneity and Tradition (2018). [email protected]