Pectoral cross depicting the Crucifixion, 18th century

Bronze casting

Height × width: 9 × 5 cm Weight: 30.3 g.

The artifact exhibits a deeply corroded and altered surface, a condition that makes it difficult to clearly identify the figures. The loss of legibility of the reliefs is due to a combination of factors: in addition to the intense mechanical wear resulting from prolonged devotional use, there are the practices of the Old Believers, who, out of aesthetic and symbolic aversion to the metal’s natural dark oxidation, subjected the object to frequent and vigorous domestic cleaning to keep it polished; this abrasive treatment, repeated over time, ultimately obliterated the finest details of the figures.