The Premyslid Crucifix (Premyslidenkreuz in German) from Jihlava. The Premyslid Crucifix is a polychromed wooden cross dating from the first half of the 14th century. It is on display at the Picture Gallery of Strahov Monastery in Prague. In 2010 it was declared a National Cultural Monument by the Czech government.
History
According to legend, the crucifix was dedicated to Jihlava by King Ottokar II of Bohemia or King Ottokar I of Bohemia. It was, however, probably made in about 1330 and came to Jihlava in the 14th century from Germany. The crucifix was intended for the Dominican Church of the Raising of the Holy Cross that was founded in the mid-13th century. Cologne was the spiritual centre of the Dominican Order in Central Europe, and it was there that crucifixes of this type originate. Following the Josephine reforms and the abolishing of the Jesuit Order, the Dominicans relocated to the Jesuit Church of St Ignatius of Loyola in Jihlava, where the crucifix was placed in a glazed late Rococo altar in the left side chapel near the entrance. It was later moved from the Church of St Ignatius to the Church of St James the Greater which, from 1591, came under the administration of the Strahov Premonstratensian Monastery. Under the Communist regime, Strahov Monastery was abolished and the crucifix could thus only be given specialist evaluation after 1989, following its first modern restoration in Prague between 1994 and 1997. Due to unsuitable climatic conditions there, a modern synthetic-resin replica was made in 2012 for the Church of St. James in Jihlava. The Premyslid Crucifix is now on show in the Picture Gallery of Strahov Monastery.
Description and classification
The cross of the Church of St. Maria im Kapitol in Cologne dating from 1304 provided the model for the expressive anticlassical style of the ‘mystical crucifixes’ (crucifix dolorosum, Gabelkrucifix) that originate in the German Rhineland region. The Premyslid Crucifix dates from later on than the crucifixes of Fabriano and Palermo and follows on more closely from the crucifix in the Church of St. Maria vom Frieden in Cologne and both crucifixes from near Salzburg. (Nonnberg, Friesach). It is stylistically so similar to the crucifix that Hungarian pilgrims brought from Cologne to Andernach that it could even come from the same workshop. The crucifix at the house of the Augustinian Canons at Klosterneuburg follows on from the Premyslid crucifix with its sculptural portrayal and less expressive treatment.
The polychromed wooden crucifix differs from other Gothic sculptures of Bohemian origin with its larger than life-size dimensions and dramatic expression that still harks back to the 13th century. Christ's body, including his arms, is 245 cm tall and his arms span 158 cm across. The cross itself is 309 cm tall. Its shape, in the form of a deeply branching tree trunk with sawn-off branches represents the symbolic Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The figure of Christ has a disproportionately enlarged head, hands and feet. His head with its half-open mouth and lowered eyes leans down to the right-hand side and tenses the muscles in his neck. The heads of the prophets on the west façade of Strasbourg Cathedral could have provided the model for this.
The expressive suffering in Christ's face is emphasised by the carving that tends towards geometrical stylisation and combines sharp convex and concave shapes. Christ's head has a precisely carved beard and a large crown of thorns whose thorns are long and pierce his skull. Like other ‘crucifixi dolorosi’ this sculpture also served as a reliquary, which is indicated by the opening in the head. The long locks of hair that can be seen in earlier photographs were not original and were removed during restoration. Christ's large hands with their long twisted fingers have wounds modelled in swollen skin around the nails. The crossed feet, pieced by a single nail, also have dramatically emphasised wounds.