Forked cross

Typical of the mystic crucifixes is the body of Christ hanging on a Y-shaped tree fork with his head falling low over his chest, his mouth contorted with pain and his eyes full of tears.

His narrow, sinewy arms stretch more upward than sideways, his thin body is strongly bent and deeply sunken below the breastbone, with prominently protruding ribs and a gaping wound in his side.

Religious currents of the 13-14th century developed, under the influence of mysticism, a piety centred on Christ's Passion, which expressed itself in this image form that portrayed Jesus' suffering in a particularly graphic way.

The crucifixus dolorosus from St. Mary's in the Capitol bears very little similarity with the style of the Rhenish and Cologne sculptors of its time; it appears to be a singular work of outstanding quality.

Even the other sculptures of this type in Germany appear to be by "foreign" craftsmen when compared with the local art of their particular region.

Thus it is possible that the original forked crosses are imported pieces, or that they were carved by itinerant craftsmen, which may explain why local walnut wood was used for the crucifix of St. Mary's in the Capitol.

The crucifixes in St. Simon and St. Jude's in Thorr (Bergheim county), St. John's in Lage/Rieste (Lower Saxony), the cross in St. Peter's Church, Merzig and the crucifix in the Roman Catholic parish church of St. John the Baptist in Kendenich (Hürth) also belong to this group.

These sorts of crucifix are also found, albeit in much smaller numbers, in other European countries, not just in Italy, but also in Switzerland and in Upper Austria and in Spain.