CRUCIFIX

(Lat. cruci fix us, fastened to the cro ), literally ‘the Crucified One,’ a cro with the effigy of Christ fastened to it. The C. began to replace the plain cro in churches in the reign of Const an tine (d. 337 A.D.). The Greek Church did not acknowledge them, and they were not commonly used in the Hast till the close of the 8th century. They were general in the Latin Church in the Carlo vig i an period. They form a prominent feature in Roman Catholic churches, and in the Luther an churches. The earliest representations presented Christ as alive and clothed, with open eyes, the figure being pierced by four nails. The symbolic sacrificial lamb often figured on the cro , with a medallion bust of Christ, as in the Vatican cro . Later Christ appears as dead, naked except for a loin-cloth, fastened by three nails. In Catholic churches the principal C. stands in the center of the high-altar. They are generally of gold or silver, but are sometimes made of wood, or stone, and smaller ones of ivory. Many great artists and sculptors have carved C’s. Sometimes a pictorial and nota plastic representation appeared on the cro . See Carus, The Crucifiz, Court, xiii. 1899; Ashton and Baring Gould, Legendary History of the Cro , 1887; Stockbauer, Kunsigeschichte des Kreuzes, 1820. village, on Cruden Bay, Aberdeen shire, Scotland; seaside resort. Scot. scholar; author of Concordance to the Bible, pub. 1737, and other works, chiefly religious.