The Arma Christi [General discussion]

[-JKP-]

I'm still puzzling over what the orbs might be in the pew carving.

They're not sacred hearts, the heart is in between them.

They have been arranged in a very treelike way in relationship to the cross, with the crown of thorns almost looking like leaves from a "cross tree". They are almost like fruits. Everything else in the image relates to the Arma Christi, so there's probably some meaning intended.

Arma Christi images are not combined with Adam and Eve pictures, so it's unlikely that they are forbidden fruit and they are not grapes (wine, "the fruit of my body").


One possibility... dates

Ascent to heaven has been described in the Bible in many ways. This is one of them: "I will climb the palm tree and pick its fruit”. Perhaps they are meant to be dates. A palm tree has a straight single trunk, like a cross and many parts of the Bible are associated with Egypt which, in turn, is often associated with palm trees.

In the Middle Ages, the Phoenix dactylifera palm was included in numerous herbal manuscripts and it was usually depicted with big clusters of fruits, hanging on each side or, as in this one from Tacuinum Sanitatus, as knobs that were out of scale in relation to the tree (bigger than they would be in real life).

If they are dates, it's a metaphor for ascent:



Image courtesy of Plantillustrations.org

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Psalm 92:12

It's not likely that they are coconuts, which is a southeast Asian tree that was not generally known in the west at the time.


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My guess is that they are pomegranates. This plant is included in numerous herbals and symbolizes resurrection. The carved knobs are fairly large (probably too large to be dates) and they are red. Based on the classical story of Persephone, the pomegranate was known as a symbol for death and renewal (as happens with the seasons changing and the plants dying back and returning in the spring). This fits with later Christian symbols for death and resurrection.

Pomegranate is also part of old Hebrew traditions, with pomegranate sticks being thrust crossways into the body of the sacrificial lamb.

Taddeo's fresco of the Passion and entombment includes a pomegranate tree to symbolize the Resurrection [J.C. Long, 1995].


But there is another possibility that it is apples, or generic fruit...

In Crivelli's time (mid- to late- 15th century) it became very popular to include fruit on either side of the Madonna's head in images of Madonna and child, sometimes a lot of fruit, sometimes only two large round fruits (often apples, pears, or peaches). Sometimes they are suspended in the air next to her head. Here's one with several fruits, but he sometimes only included one on each side:


Courtesy of The Met


I suppose they might also be generic fruits, not any particular fruit (assuming they are fruit).

If they are fruit, I'm going to guess pomegranate for now, it's an ancient symbol for resurrection (in Greek times, there were artworks depicting the dead holding up a pomegranate).