Symbol of God’s love in various styles on exhibit in Pampanga
Style classification
The Angeles exhibit, “Krus ng Kristo: The Art of the Cross,” includes a variety of vintage crosses, some of which are family and heirloom treasures, that represent the “cross that Jesus Christ carried, on which he was nailed, and on which he died so mankind could find its salvation,” wrote Castro in his exhibit notes.
He classified the crucifixes on exhibit according to the style classification of artist Fernando Zobel de Ayala in his book, “Philippine Religious Imagery”—folk or popular, classical and ornate.
In folk crucifixes, Castro said the “body of Christ is often misshapen, with limbs either too short or too long.”
From deadpan to whimsical
“Even the expression of the dead Christ ranges from deadpan to whimsical. Folk crosses were often painted with bright hues using vegetable dyes or house paint, and embellished with floral patterns. Rayos (rays) cut from tin were sometimes added to emulate classical-style crucifixes,” he said
Classical crucifixes, he said, show more refinement and realism in the carving, “adhering to iconographic disciplines and showing a higher level of skill.”
“This style abounded when more contemporary models were made available to artisans—holy pictures, lithograph posters of saints, imported religious icons—and when commercial talleres (wood carving workshops) started to flourish in the country,” he said.
Master carvers
Local master carvers in Manila, Paete (Laguna), the Ilocos provinces and Betis (Pampanga) experimented with copying Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and other Western prototypes, he said.
These crosses were carved from hardwood species—batikuling, molave and kamagong.
The ornate ones, Castro said, were embellished with silver, gold, gems, metallic thread and heavy embroidery.
Famous crosses
As an additional feature, the exhibit shows photographs and the background to the so-called famous crosses of the country. These are the Magellan’s Cross in Cebu City; Alitagtag Cross in Batangas; Kambal na Krus in Tondo, Manila; Apo Lakay in Sinait, Ilocos Sur; Sto. Cristo in Pakil, Laguna; and Apo Sto. Cristo de Lubao and Apo Señor of Guagua, both in Pampanga
The exhibit will be closed for the Holy Triduum—the three-day period that begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and ends on Easter Sunday, recalling the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus—and will resume for another two weeks, starting April 6.
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