3-038-277 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Crucifixion; Stammheim Missal, probably 1170s. Additional Info:In the center, while Jesus hangs on the cross, a centurion stabs him with a lance and another man offers him a vinegar-soaked sponge. In compartments to the side, the Virgin and Saint John mourn Jesus' death. In the semicircles near the arms of the cross are Life, shown as a young woman on the left, and Death, appearing as a demon on the right. Their presence reminds Christians that Christ triumphed over death, a message explicitly conveyed through the scroll hanging from Jesus' arms: "O death, I will be your death, O Hell, I will be your bite." Below the cross, a youth tramples the grapes of wrath described in the Book of Isaiah as signifying the blood of vengeance.