Old Russian pectoral crosses of the XI-XIII centuries

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Despite the abundance of ancient crosses held both in the hands of archaeologists and in various collections, the layer of historical science associated with them has practically not been studied. In the overview, we will briefly talk about the types and types of Old Russian body crosses of the 11th-13th centuries.

There is no complete set of types of pre-Mongol body crosses of the 11th-13th centuries. Moreover, even clear principles of material classification have not been developed. Meanwhile, there are many publications devoted to this topic. They can be conditionally divided into two groups: publications of collections and articles devoted to archaeological finds. The famous two-volume edition of the collection of B. I. and V. N. Khanenko, which was published in Kiev. Now, after almost a century break, a number of catalogs of private collections with sections dedicated to the XI-XIII century crosses have been published: one can mention the Millennium of the Cross by A. K. Stanyukovich, “Catalog of Medieval Small Sculptures” by A. A. Chudnovets, the publication of the collection of the Vologda collector Surov, a description of the samples of pre-Mongol metal-plastic materials of the Odessa Museum of Numismatics. With all the differences in the scientific quality of the description, these publications are united by one thing - the randomness of the selection of the described material and the absence of a classification principle. If the second is associated with the undeveloped scientific topic, then the first only testifies to the absence of serious, representative collections that can be provided by their owner for publication. It is also worth mentioning the work of Nechitailo "Catalog of Old Russian pectoral crosses of the X-XIII centuries." This work suffers from the obvious incompleteness and extreme subjectivity of the author, who for some reason classifies cruciform overlays and even buttons as body crosses, and who has included a number of forgeries in his catalog. It is hoped that the catalog of the collection of solid crosses of the 11th-13th centuries, which is now being prepared for publication, will become a pleasant exception. S. N. Kutasova - the vastness of the collection provides the authors with ample opportunities to build a typology of pre-Mongol pectoral crosses.

Articles devoted to archaeological finds, and at the same time not being a collection of such finds, by their nature cannot have any complete idea of the types of crosses. At the same time, it is they who create the basis for the correct dating of objects and help to avoid curious situations when objects of the 15th century, and sometimes of the 17th-18th centuries, which are not always even solid crosses, are described in catalogs of private collections as pre-Mongol crosses (for example - famous Vologda edition).

And, nevertheless, despite the existing problems, we can at least in general outline the entire abundance of pre-Mongol crosses known at the moment, highlighting several large groups of objects.

The smallest group includes solid crosses with images. If on encolpions and solid icons of the 11th-13th centuries the range of images is quite extensive - we find images of Jesus, the Mother of God, archangels, saints, sometimes there are multi-figured scenes - then on vests we see only the image of the Crucifixion, sometimes with the forthcoming ones. Perhaps the only exception is a group of double-sided crosses depicting saints in medallions. There is also a small group of crosses - overflow from encolpions. At the moment, several dozen different types of pre-Mongol crosses with a crucifixion have been published. (Fig. 1) With the exception of a few basic ones, these types are represented by a fairly small number of known specimens.

The rarity of "subject" body crosses in Russia in pre-Mongol times is a question requiring clarification. On the territory of Byzantium, from the Black Sea region to the Middle East, crosses with images - most often the Crucifixion or the Mother of God of Oranta - are found no less often than ornamental crosses, in Russia during this period we see a completely different ratio of occurrence. Body crosses with the image of the Mother of God, as far as we know, are quite rare in Russia. (Fig. 2) At the same time, one should take into account the popularity of body icons and encolpions with the image of the Mother of God and the saints, as well as the fact that among the types of crosses of the end of the XIV century. - the beginning of the 17th century. crosses with figured images predominate.

Most of the pre-Mongol body crosses are decorated with ornaments. Only small leaden crosses dating from the beginning of the 11th century can be classified as non-ornamental, the simplest from a technical and artistic point of view. Classifying ornamental crosses is not an easy task. The types with "Scandinavian" and "Byzantine" ornaments stand out most naturally from the bulk. On the basis of comparison with northern material, no more than a few dozen "Scandinavian types" can be distinguished, which, however, were quite widespread. (Fig. 3) The situation with the "Byzantine" ornament is more complicated. On many crosses, originating from Byzantine territory, one can see an ornament consisting of circles pressed into the surface. (Fig. 4)

There are various explanations for this pattern, the most famous of which boil down to the fact that before us is either a schematic representation of the five wounds of Christ, which then turned into an element of decor, or it is a protective symbolism that protects its wearer from the "evil eye". On Russian crosses, with the exception of one, but rather numerous group, such an ornament is rare, but at the same time, it almost always adorns the surface of very popular Slavic amulets depicting a "lynx", as well as amulets-hatchets, and is found on shields of a large group of rings, the influence on the type of which from the side of Byzantine objects of personal piety seems to be very doubtful. So this ornament can be called "Byzantine" rather conditionally, although from the formal point of view the parallels between the group of Old Russian and Byzantine crosses seem obvious.

The bulk of the ornamental adornments, almost 90 percent, is of primordial Russian origin. But before characterizing them, you need to turn your gaze to the very shape of the crosses. The morphology of Old Russian body crosses is striking in its diversity. Byzantium did not know such a diversity of forms; as far as we can judge, medieval Europe did not know it either. The phenomenon of this diversity requires a historical explanation. But before talking about this, it is necessary to at least briefly describe the most characteristic forms of the "branches" of pre-Mongol body crosses. The most natural thing would be to expect the dominance of the straight-ended form of "branches", as we find in Byzantium. However, this is not the case - the straight-pointed form is relatively rare compared to other forms of branches. Crosses of the "Maltese type", with "branches" expanding to the tip, which were quite popular in Byzantium, in Russia only a few types are known, and even then they are quite rare. The main mass is made up of crosses, the branches of which end with a "crinkled", that is, a lily-like ending. It would be wrong to assert that this form of the "branch" of the cross is a purely Russian specificity. This form is also found in Byzantium, but in a very small proportional relation to equal-pointed crosses, and mainly in the Balkans. (Fig. 5)

Strictly speaking, it cannot be argued that the "crinkled" type of "branches" dominates the solid crosses of the 11th-13th centuries in their pure form. The "ideal" crinkled type covers, perhaps, no more than a quarter of all types of vests of this era. However, the fundamental influence of the "criniform" shape on the morphology of the pre-Mongolian vest cross seems obvious to me. In addition to the "ideal" crinovype, we find the following forms of completion of the "branches": three points located in a triangle, a triangle, a circle with three points on the outside, a bead with three points or one, finally, just a bead or a circle. At first glance, the rounded end of the "branch" of the cross can hardly be reduced to a criniform, however, if you build a typological series, you can easily see the morphological transformation that turns the crinovid into an environment or a bead.

Thus, revealing the dominance of the curved type of "branches" of the cross, we can assume that the character of the decor of the cross, which is inseparable from its shape, will be determined by this very shape. This, apparently, explains the originality of the decor of the Old Russian body crosses.

A special and very numerous group is made up of the so-called cross-shaped pendants. Their semantics are not completely clear - they equally contain in their form elements of both a Christian cross and a pagan amulet. The difficulty in attributing them to Christian subjects also lies in the fact that the motif of the cross is not alien to paganism. When we see ovals intertwined in a cruciform manner, four circles connected in a cruciform manner, a rhombus with balls at the end, or a curved pendant resembling a cross in shape, we cannot say with certainty whether Christian influence was reflected in such a composition, or whether it is purely pagan symbolism. On the basis of archaeological finds, it can only be argued that these objects existed in the same environment as the cross-vests, which gives some grounds for considering them in the context of objects of personal piety, albeit with some reservations. (Fig. 6)

The main argument for dividing the cruciform appendages into "Christian" and "pagan" groups (both designations are conditional) can be the presence or absence of numerous similar items originating from Byzantine territory. In the case of "cross-connected" pendants, we must recognize them to a greater extent as objects of Christian culture than pagan, since there are numerous analogues originating from the entire Byzantine territory, and in Kherson this type, as far as can be judged, was one of the most common types of crosses -telnikov. At the same time, one cannot fail to notice that on pendants of this type, almost all crosses included in the circle have curved, or close to curved ends. Thus, even in relation to this type, which has many analogies among the Byzantine material, we cannot speak of a complete borrowing of the form from Byzantium.

An interesting example of a pagan-Christian synthesis can be Old Russian lunar amuletsthat include a cross. Knowing the many pre-Christian types of lunnits, it can be argued without doubt that the cross that arose on some types of linnits (however, quite rare) is a purely Christian element, and is a consequence of the emerging "dual faith" - that is, an organic combination of pagan and Christian ideas within a single model the world. It is well known that the "dual faith" in Russia within the limits of folk culture persisted until very late, and the existence moonwalkers with a cross, which should be included both in the vaults of pre-Mongol body crosses, and pagan amulets - its brightest manifestation. (Fig. 7)

You can read more about lunits and other Slavic amulets in the article " Old Russian pendants and amulets of the 11th - 13th centuries ".

In parallel with the semantic typology of the cross-vest I outlined, several typological groups can be distinguished, based on the material and technique of making the crosses. A serious historian striving for subjects of the "first level" cannot but ask the question - are there golden vest crosses? Such items, of course, existed, but, apparently, only in princely use. There are only a few known gold crosses originating from the territory of Russia. At the same time, on the territory of Byzantium, such items are not an absolute rarity. Solid gold leaf crosses with semiprecious stones are found both in the Western antique market and in archaeological reports, however, full-weight gold crosses are quite rare, and in the West, as well as in Russia, they are almost impossible to find on the antique market.

Silver body crosses of the 11th-13th centuries represent a fairly small group of objects. Most of them are small crosses of simple shapes, with "branches" ending in beads, and rather large crosses with "Scandinavian" ornament. Silver crosses of unusual shapes are rare. Burial crosses made of sheet silver appear in archaeological publications, but in practice they are extremely rare.

A separate group is made up of stone body crosses. They are distinguished by simplicity of form, absence of thread. Only in some cases are they framed in silver. They are mostly made of slate, less often of marble. The marble crosses are of Byzantine origin. Despite the fact that they are not objectively rare - they are often found during excavations in the Byzantine territory - in reality there are not so many of them, which is simply explained: they cannot be found by a metal detector, and are only an accidental find.

The group of enamel crosses is very numerous. The standard "Kiev" type of enamel cross is one of the most common types of pre-Mongol crosses. The variety of subtypes within the general type of the simplest enamel cross is quite large. In addition to the most basic division into two subtypes according to the number of balls with which the "branch" ends, they differ in the colors of the enamel, as well as in the decor of the reverse side: if most of these crosses are double-sided, then one-sided crosses with a smooth reverse side can be attributed to a rarer type, with an engraved cross on the reverse side or with an inscription, most often unreadable due to the quality of the casting.

In addition to the type of enamel cross with curved ends of the "branches", there is a rarer "straight-ended" type, and the type with a rounding at the end of the branches. They are adjoined by a fairly numerous group of crosses, or cruciform pendants of very unusual shapes, which have no analogues either among the Byzantine or among Russian objects. As an analogy, only a cruciform ornament on a fairly numerous group of large pre-Mongol buttons, also decorated with enamel, can be cited. (Fig. 8)

A separate, rather small group is made up of crosses decorated with niello. At the moment, we know no more than a dozen types of crosses with niello, one of which is relatively common, while the rest are quite rare. (Fig. 9)

Turning to the "technical" side of the description of the material of interest to us, one cannot pass over in silence two questions that excite any interested person, namely: the degree of rarity of the objects to which he turns his gaze, and the problem of the authenticity of these objects. Often, when communicating with various kinds of specialists, one hears the assertion that this or that pre-Mongol cross is "unique". Meanwhile, an experienced researcher knows that numerous crosses marked in publications with the highest sign of rarity are often found in dozens of copies. The point here, of course, is not the incompetence of the compilers of such rarity tables, but the very nature of the product we are considering. With rare exceptions, all body crosses were made by the molding method, which implies the presence of many tens, and sometimes hundreds of completely identical items. We know of many cases of re-casting, in which the quality of the product, of course, may deteriorate somewhat, but the type itself, and even its small details, remain. As far as can be judged, the crosses, at least in pre-Mongol times, were not melted down, so that all specimens that have fallen into the ground are waiting to be found. In other words, a truly unique cast cross is almost unbelievable. The practical rarity can be explained simply: unlike Byzantium, where there were large centers of mass casting, from which crosses were distributed throughout the empire, in Russia casting workshops were scattered throughout the territory of the state. The works of these local workshops for the most part did not go beyond their initially small region of existence, and if the place of production of any unusual type of crosses has not yet been found, it can be considered as very rare, but as soon as the center of production will be discovered, and dozens of the same or similar items are fed. In other words, the rarity of copper vest crosses is always relative. Silver crosses are objectively quite rare, but often due to their outward appearance, small size and lack of interesting decor, they do not attract serious attention of interested persons. To what has been said, we can only add that the greatest, although again relative rarity, can be represented by crosses of an unusual shape, having an unusual ornamental design, and even more so - small varieties.

No matter how brief this sketch of a typological description of the crosses of vests of the pre-Mongol era is, it poses before the thoughtful reader a number of questions that are fundamental for understanding not only this narrow topic, but also the history of the Christianization of Russia as a whole. One cannot but amaze the fact of the iconographic and typological isolation of the Old Russian vest-crosses from the Byzantine samples. The Byzantine tradition, having formed the Russian type of cross-encolpion, actually did not affect the formation of types of crosses-vests. Earlier, when archaeological excavations were the only source of metal-plastic items, it was widely believed that encolpions were worn only by representatives of the elite. Now, thanks to the massive finds of encolpions in the settlements, the illegality of this statement has become clear. We are not talking about dividing the types of crosses - vests and encolpions - according to the "estate principle", but only about distinguishing two fundamentally different types of worn crosses: one type is completely focused on Byzantine samples, on imported specimens from the "cultural metropolis" (these are crosses-encolpions), the other type - that is, small cross-vests - is almost completely focused on the local, Slavic culture.

Slavic cultural orientation is, first of all, an orientation towards paganism. However, this in no way means a confrontation between paganism and Christianity, rather the opposite: the cross as a symbol of belonging to the Christian community, as an object of personal piety, turned out to be endowed with the popular consciousness with amulet semantics. The cross-vest received a completely different meaning than the one it had in Byzantium - along with the Slavic lunettes, ridge pendants, spoon amulets, keys, hatchets, it turned into an instrument of interaction between a person - his master - with the forces of the outside world. Apparently, the body cross had protective functions - it is no coincidence that the ornamental design of the pre-Mongol crosses, which has no correspondences among the Byzantine material, finds many parallels in the design of the signet rings, which undoubtedly had a protective meaning.

"Dual faith" as one of the fundamental facts of Russian culture has not yet been studied well enough due to the scarcity of sources, and here ancient Russian metal-plastic can be one of the most interesting and richest sources of new knowledge. A person who turns his gaze on her comes into contact with history itself in its still untouched, yet unknown guise, before him is a subject of research, rich and interesting, and what if not the desire for the unknown is the force that moves the heart and awakens the passion of an enthusiastic seeker truth ?!