Brother Simeon based his Crucifixion icon on classic icons of this theme, in particular the frescoes of Theophanes the Cretan, the leading iconographer of the Cretan school of the 16th century. Christ is surrounded by both angelic and earthly onlookers, including the Blessed Virgin, Saint John the Apostle, and Saint Longinus the Centurion. At the foot of the Cross, we find the skull and bones of Adam, the First Man. Tradition tells us that Golgotha was called the Place of the Skull not because the hill looked like a human skull, but because the bones of Adam had been brought and buried there by the descendants of Noah. When the Lord died, a great earthquake split apart the rocks, and the blood of the Lord flowed down from the Cross and on to the bones of Adam, indicating the redemption of fallen human nature made possible to the whole human race. Like our other icons of Christ, our Crucifixion icon is available in a full range of plaque and print sizes, from 4? to 60? tall.

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