In its first few pages, the author succinctly and helpfully summarises this book's purpose as a study of the varied designs of fourth- through twelfth-century Egyptian crosses with attention to their symbolic significance in that region's visual culture. As such, it aims to fill a gap in art historical studies of the cross and crucifix generally, as well to analyse a type of early Christian Egyptian artifact that most studies of Coptic art have tended to overlook or, at best, treat only superficially. Thus, this relatively short volume provides an important supplement to works that tend to concentrate on Egyptian church and monastery murals, textiles with figural imagery and funerary portraits.
By itself, the cross is arguably Christianity's most recognisable symbol, while being extremely adaptable to particular cultural contexts. Thus, it reflects the character of a particular community's faith, theology or religious practices. Recognising this, Spalding-Stracey opens with a general reflection on the relative scarcity of figural crosses and crucifixes in early Christian art and their possible substitutes. For example, she considers the so-called dearth of early Christian crosses and points to the discussion of so-called crypto crosses, staurograms or christograms as described by early, non-Egyptian writers (for example, Justin Martyr and Eusebius). She then surveys art historians’ remarks about the distinctive characteristics and styles of Coptic art generally but especially focuses on the third through the fifth (proto-Coptic) centuries when Christianity became widespread in Egypt although the population was still religiously and ethnically pluralistic. This was also the time when Christians and polytheists were often in heated, occasionally violent, competition. Although emphasising the early period, Spalding-Stracey defines later phases: the fourth century, when Egyptian Christians developed artistic styles for their own use (Coptic art proper), and the era following the Arab conquest, from the mid-seventh to the twelfth century.
Because the corpus is potentially enormous and, moreover, stretches over both a broad time frame and geographical region (from Nubia to the Nile Delta), the author reasonably chose to be selective rather than exhaustive. In order to simplify what could be a vast catalogue, she concentrates on examples that fit her criteria of being aesthetically outstanding or in some way distinctive. She acknowledges that such selectivity omits any significant discussion of graffiti crosses or cross signs in manuscripts. Nevertheless, she incorporates a representative range of contexts from which she draws her examples. She includes crosses for monasteries, cemeteries and church buildings alike.
One of the key contributions of the book is Spalding-Stracey's development of four major categories (and eight subcategories) of Egyptian crosses. She begins with a discussion of ankh-styled crosses that are unique to Egypt and which comprise the first of her four main categories of cross types. All four types are primarily distinguished by their basic shapes: ansate (ankh-styled), quadrata Greek and Latin forms, and pattée (having flared ends). These four types are then further refined by distinctive elements, date and region.
Overall, Spalding-Stracey's work is carefully organised and richly descriptive. She extensively discusses the crosses’ different materials (for example, terracotta, stone, wood, metal) and designs (for example, floral, figural or plain), describes how and by whom they were fabricated, and identifies them according to their geographical locations and spatial settings (for example, wall paintings, funerary stele or ecclesial architecture). She compares the Egyptian crosses with crosses from other parts of the ancient Christian world that have some similar design features, like those from Armenia or Ireland with braided or knotted designs. On this point, Spalding-Stracey demonstrates that these Coptic artifacts belong to their own genre and did not simply draw upon the styles or techniques of other cultures. Finally, Spalding-Stracey also addresses problems of date and authentication, an issue that is especially relevant for a body of evidence that too often includes a large number of forgeries, especially when dealers or curators acquire objects having no known provenance.
Yet, beyond simply amassing and organising the objective details, the author clearly is interested in what meanings these objects express and, perhaps even more interesting, how they were (and are) used. She poses the questions of whether these were primarily religious symbols used for devotion or indicating adherence to the Christian faith or if they would have had some secondary function (for example, talismanic or apotropaic). She explores the possible uses for crosses on ostensibly secular, personal, or mundane objects as jewellery, items of clothing, hair combs and bread stamps. At one point she asks whether a cross in a monk's cell might have had served several simultaneous functions: to replace the figure of Christ, to ward off demons or to serve as ‘reminders of Christ's resurrection as well as the holy nature of monastic endeavor’ (p. 184).
Readers will be grateful for footnotes, appendixes with clear maps and selected anaphoras (in English), and a section of very helpful and well-chosen colour illustrations. At times the material seems repetitive and some readers might find it slightly disorganised. This reviewer was slightly puzzled by the opening and closing references to Cyril of Jerusalem, rather than to an Egyptian writer, but these are very minor criticisms of a very interesting and most useful volume.
