Italian solid silver crucifix, Naples, 1839-1872

Height x width crucifix: 35 x 23; theca dimensions: 46 x 36 cm. Weight with theca: 665 g.

Corpus Christi mounted on a cross with terminals depicting cherubic heads. The Savior is shown with His head crowned with thorns, tilted to the right, legs bent, and feet crossed and nailed one over the other. His arms are outstretched, with well-defined musculature; the open hands are nailed to the cross with pyramid-shaped nails. The loincloth is adorned with a side drape knotted at the right hip. At the top of the cross, there is a scroll bearing the Titulus Crucis I.N.R.I. (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, which literally translates to 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews'), rectangular in shape and arranged horizontally in a wavy form, reminiscent of a parchment. At the base, a skull symbolizes Calvary