Beauty of the Cross / Beauty on the Cross
By Vincent Vice
Can the cross be beautiful? Can a crucifixion be aesthetic?
Of course not, if you consider the historical reality of the punishment of crucifixion in ancient times. The brutal, and furthermore state-ordered killing of a human is in my opinion one of the most disdainful facets of human civilisation, of which we still haven’t freed ourself. The dying of a person is rarely “beautiful”, rarely “aesthetic”, let alone erotic.
It is likely that the fascination with crucifixion stems from its apparent historical remoteness (we believe ourselves free of such barbarism, even though recent happenings keep on contradicting that), while at the same time having a strongly subversive presence in a Christianity-orientated society. Even little children know about the the way and circumstances of the death of Jesus Christ, grow up with the depiction of the crucified, without being able to properly process this. The suffering is endowed with an aspect of the godlike, the impalpable, which is further strengthened by the teachings of the church. The cross becomes something to aspire to; one “bears the cross with joy” and “follows the saviour.” The cross is praised with near lustful intensity—especially in the scriptures of medieval mystics—and the pictures of Christian martyrs more often than not contain the expression of sexual ecstasy.
It is important to keep all this in mind before judging the seemingly seedy depictions of women on the cross. They exist through the centuries; part in the form of pictures of female martyrs from history, and part in the form of allegories with religious or political meaning, or even “just” to directly satiate erotic fantasies (both male and female), which can be detected subversively in all renditions of crucifixions.
The Fascination Of The Crucified Woman
The Sadistic Aspect:
The woman is helpless. The spread arms signify both lack of protection and an apparent expectation. This goes hand in hand with the cross as punishment—being completely unprotected, at the mercy of, and the willingness to receive through the open arms. This contains a clear sexual meaning in the case of a woman. The position of the legs seems to contradict this on the other hand (legs spread would be more obvious), but the hips that are pressed together display but an appearance of protection, outside the woman’s sphere of influence—that could only be lifted again by the “executioner.” The nudity is obvious too, going hand in hand with the being at the mercy of someone else; the loincloth, similar to the legs, but an apparent last protection, even easier to remove at any point. The use of nails seems more erotic than ropes as it contains the added symbolism of blood. The blood is in contrast to the pale body of the woman, just as the brutality of the metallic nails is in contrast to the tenderness and sensitivity of the female hands and feet. The feet being nailed on top of each other furthermore express a sense of the imposed and unnatural, while retaining a sense of the aesthetic and beauty. Does the male spectator identify with the wood of the cross? The wood is a living material; the body of the woman pressed against the warmth of the wood, both inseparably entwined—a symbolic act of love.
The Masochistic Aspect:
The woman as saviour. The body untouched, held only at the hands and feet, the arms spread, ready to receive the sinner. The shame covered and the hips locked, a symbol of chastity and purity. The red of the blood as evil element on the white of the skin. Still alive on the living wood. The cross as symbol of lack of guilt. Dying without reality. Dissolution, visible fading. Erected between heaven and hell, looking down onto the spectator. Size. Untouchable.
Conclusion
The conflict between man and woman. True worship possible only in utter helplessness, lack of danger and apparent purity. The woman gains magnitude in quiet enduring. Stylised godhood status, to the unreal. The tenderness of the female body increased through outer—focused—brutality. The nail in the sensitive feet, the blood on the naked breast. The two-sided aesthetic of the cruel. More icon than object of lust. The woman remains quiet; a picture, not real.
External Link: Vincent Vice’s homepage