"Glorijos" motyvas XIX a. - XX a. I pusės lietuvių liaudies kryžiuose

ENUntil recently, Lithuanian term for the circular, openwork decorative motif in the centre of Lithuanian folk crosses created in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century used to be "saulė" ("sunburst"); the term was introduced by the researchers in the first half of the20th century. This concept which means a celestial body, i.e. the Sun, does not reflect the meaning and purpose of the cross and the main group of its ornaments. A term "glorija" ("gloria") is proposed in this article. The following arguments are used to substantiate it: 1. The basis for naming the said motif with the term "gloria" which means "glory" instead o( "sunhursf is Chrisnan lifestyle and deep faith characteristic of the Lithuanian countryside of the first half of the 20th century where the worship of God both at individual and community level was understood as the very foundation of existence. 2. To create the motif, folk artisans used ornaments copied from church art. Historical evolution of folk ornamentation was influenced by the old European tradition of Christianity which reached Lithuania together with the Baptism of the country at the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century. These are geometric monograms of the name of Christ; Greek cross (also called monogramie cross) with four equal arms, an X (Chi), and sign with six rays (Chi Rho). By combining the Greek cross with Chi, a cross of eight arms symbolising the regeneration was obtained. In the beginning, monograms of Christ toweringabove churches, bell towers and chapels were meant to dignify the name.of Christ and signify sacral Christian buildings and retained these meanings at later years when they were copied by folk artists to top chapel-columns, cemetery gates and crosses. In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, geometric monograms of Christ's name served as a frame for creating the iron top of the cross by profiling the ends of the crosspiece and supplementing them with finer geometric (crosses, curlicues, etc.) and floral (blooming flowers) decor elements. 3. When making the central crosspiece motif craftsmen copied glorias which were used by the Jesuits to encircle the ensign of their Order (letters IHS with a cross) thus glorifying the name of the Lord. These were circles or ovals of straight, wavy or serrated rays, frames in the form of twigs with laurel leaves, various wreaths and silhouettes of lilies. These very ornaments, though slightly transformed, can be seen repeated in the tops of iron crosses as well as in wooden crosses made by folk artists in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. 4. Another example worth following was the decorations of baroque altars of Lithuanian churches made in the 17th-18th centuries. When folk artists imitated their ornamentation, they remodelled it to suit the decor of village crosses. These baroque ornamental forms accentuated in the article that are characteristic of Lithuanian folk crosses were composed of one-piece decorative formation comprising intertwining S and C elements, acanthus curlicues and details of auricular ornament. [...]. [From the publication]