Calvary (sculpture)

Calvaire at Notre Dame de Tronoën, in context

A calvary (calvaire in French) is a type of monumental public crucifix, sometimes encased in an open shrine, most commonly found across northern France from Brittany east, through Belgium and Galicia (North West of Spain), where they are called "cruceiro" or "crucero". They are equally familiar as wayside structures provided with minimal sheltering roofs in Italy and Spain. The Breton calvaire is distinguished from a simple crucifix cross by the inclusion of three-dimensional figures surrounding the Crucifixion itself, typically representing Mary and the apostles of Jesus, though later saints and symbolic figures may also be depicted.

In northern France and Belgium, such wayside calvaries erected at the junction of routes and tracks "function both as navigation devices and objects of veneration", Nicholas J. Saunders has observed^[1] "Since medieval times they have fixed the landscape, symbolically acquiring it for the Christian faith, in the same way that, previously, Megalithic monuments marked prehistoric landscapes according to presumed religious and ideological imperatives".

The oldest surviving calvaire is at the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Tronoën in the town of Saint-Jean-Trolimon, in south Finistère, near the Pointe de la Torche. This is raised on a large base which also includes carved representations of the Last Supper and scenes from the passion. Calvaires played an important role in Breton pilgrimages known as Pardons, forming a focal point for public festivals. In some instances the Calvary forms part of an outdoor pulpit or throne.

Calvaires are to be found in large numbers throughout Brittany, and come in many varied forms.^[2]

A 16th-century calvaire from Louargat, Brittany, transplanted to serve as a World War I memorial, stands at the Carrefour de la Rose near the Belgian town of Boezinge north of Ypres.^[3] The most notable Calvary monument outside Brittany is at Lourdes. This was specifically intended to represent Breton Catholicism. It was created by the sculptor Yves Hernot in 1900 as a gift to Lourdes from the main Breton dioceses: Rennes, Vannes, Quimper and Saint-Brieuc.^[4][5] The monument comprises a single central cross set within a raised square base at each corner of which a statue of one of the witnesses to the crucifixion is placed.

Gallery

• 
  The Breton Calvary at Lourdes designed by Yves Hernot.
• 
  15th-century calvaire at Notre-Dame de Tronoën, Brittany.
• 
  The calvaire at St Jean Trolimon, in Finistère
• 
  Calvaire at Saint-Tugen Chapel, Primelin, Brittany (second half of the 16th century).
• 
  Calvaire in Pleubian.
• 
  Calvary of Protest in Tréguier
• 
  Paul Gauguin's painting The Green Christ, depictring the Calvary of Névez
• 
  Calvary at Castro Barbudo, Galicia
• 
  Cruceiro at Catoira, Galicia
• 
  A Ponte Maceira, Negreira, Galicia
• 
  A Pastoriza, Arteixo, Galicia
• 
  Vilanova de Arousa, Galicia
• 
  Cruceiro at Guitiriz, Galicia
• 
  Cruceiro at Portomarín, Galicia

See also

• High cross, British sculptures
• Russian Calvary cross

References

Variants of Christian crosses
In modern use	Anchored/St. Clement's Cross Anuradhapura cross Cross of the Archangels Armenian Cross Arrow/Barby Cross Bolnisi cross Cross bottony Byzantine cross Byzantine cross (variant) Calvary cross Canterbury cross Catherine wheel Caucasian Albanian Cross Celtic cross Celtic cross (variant) Cercelée Cross of St. Chad Coptic cross Cross crosslet Cross crosslet fitchy Cruciform halo Cross of the Evangelists Cross fitchy Cross fleury Cross fleury fitchy St. Florian Cross St. Florian Cross (variant) Forked cross Cross fourchy Fylfot St. George's Cross Globus cruciger Gnostic cross Grapevine/St. Nino's Cross Greek cross Huguenot cross St. James/Santiago Cross Jerusalem/Crusaders' cross Jerusalem cross (variant) Kingdom of Jerusalem cross Cross of St. John Latin cross Macedonian Cross Maltese cross Marian Cross Maronite Cross Cross moline Cross of Novgorod Occitan cross Orthodox cross (Greek) Orthodox cross (Slavic) Papal cross Cross patonce St. Patrick's Saltire Cross pattée Cross pattée fitchée Patriarchal cross Cross of St. Peter Cross of St. Philip Pommy cross Portate cross/Cross of St. Gilbert Cross potent Ringed cross Cross quadrate Cross of Salem Saltire/St. Andrew's Cross Serbian cross Syriac cross Tau/St. Anthony's Cross St. Thomas Cross
Historical	Avellane cross Carolingian cross Cuthbert's pectoral cross Engrailed cross Chi Rho/Chrismon/Labarum Coptic ankh Early Coptic cross Cross erminée Lazarus' cross Lorraine cross Lorraine cross (variant) Cross of Peñalba Pierced cross Pierced cross quarterly Staurogram/Monogrammatic Cross Knights Templar cross Teutonic Order cross Two-barred cross * Victory Cross Voided cross
By function	Altar cross Blessing cross Conciliation cross Crosses in heraldry High cross Market cross Mercat cross Memorial cross Mission cross Monumental cross Pectoral cross Plague cross Processional cross Rood/Triumphal cross Summit cross Wayside cross
See also	Ankh Armenian eternity sign Ashur sun cross Balkenkreuz Black sun Caddo sun cross Kolovrat Nordic Cross flags Sauwastika Sunwheel swastika/Odinic fylfot Sun cross Sun cross (variant) Swastika Triskelion/Triskele
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