Folia archeologica 22.

Zsuzsa S. Lovag: Byzantine Type Reliquary Pectoral Crosses in the Hungarian National Museum

I 44 ZS. S. LOVAG Reliquary cross (Fig. 7. nos. 2a-b), Szentmiklós. (Inv. no. 1870. 25. 4.-as for the inscription v. Appendix 6a-b.) The four arms are almost of the same length, with rounded endings, flanked by globules. The two halves are hinged together and the biconical hoop, decorated along the axis and on both sides with a rib, is also attached by a hinge. There is a raised and notched border around the cross and around the medallions. On the obverse the Deesis is represented, in the centre medallion the bust of Christ, with a book in his left hand and his right arm raised in benediction. It is inscribed 1С xc In the medallions at the end of the transverse arms are the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, as suppliants, turned sligthly towards Christ. At the ends of the vertical arms the half-length figures are those of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, according to the inscriptions. The standing figure on the reverse is that of St. Nicholas, with a book in his left hand and his right ar raised in blessing, inscribed : NIKOLA. The bust in medallion over his head is that of St. George and on his right and left are those of St. Basil and St. Procop.

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3 H. : 11 cm, (with suspension 14 cm). W. : 7,7 cm. It was purchased by the museum together with a cross foot and a processional cross from the twelfth to thirteenth century. The dating of the reliquary crosses is made difficult by the fact that this type was in use for a very long period and was very conservative in preserving traditions. It does not differ much in form and composition from the former ones. The iconography of the figures (instead of the Crucifixion the representation of the Deesis) is, however, not usual in earlier examples of the same type. The inscription belonging to St. John on the obverse (IVAN) excludes the dating to a period before the fourteenth century. The form of the name Ivan, derived from the Old Russian, Old Bulgarian Ioann, was not used before the fourteenth century.

54 On the other hand the form of the reliquary pectoral crosses had overgone a change just from the fourteenth century on, their arms became straight or violinshaped, the medallions at the ends of the arms grow pointed and the globules flanking the medallions disappear.

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5 Judging by the traditional form and the name Ivan the Szentmiklós cross can be safely attributed to the fourteenth century. None of the Kiev type crosses of the Hungarian National Museum come from excavations and, as seen in the case of the Rákospalota and Szentmiklós specimens, the objects acquired together with them give no clue for a dating. It may be presumed that a part of them were carried to Hungary in recent times as in the case of the small cross with silver inlay, but in their bulk they may have been unearthed in Hungary.

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3 Representations of Procop on the crosses arc further proofs for the relationship of the Russian crosses with those of the Holy Land: Procop was, under the reign of Diocletian, one of the first martyrs of Palestine. - Réait, L., Iconographie de l'art chrétien. III: Iconographie des Saints. (Paris 1958-59) 1123. 5

4 Vasmer, M., Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. (Heidelberg 1953) 468. 5

5 Khanenko, В. I. and V. N., op. cit. Pis. X-XIL, Figs, и

5-145. 5

6 Besides the cross from Csút we know a fragment of a cross from the excavation of Muhi, which represents a Russian type as well but as this type does not occur in the Hungarian National Museum collection, we cannot deal with it here (Muhi, excavation of 1937, place no. 6,Miskolc: Herman Ottó Múzeum).