Theglobus cruciger (Latin for 'cross-bearing orb'),[1] also known asstavroforos sphaira (Greek:σταυροφόρος σφαίρα)[2] or "the orb and cross", is anorb surmounted by across. It has been aChristiansymbol ofauthority since theMiddle Ages, used oncoins, iniconography, and with asceptre as royalregalia.
The cross laid over the globus represents Christ's dominion over the world, literally held in the hand of a worthy earthly ruler. In the iconography ofWestern art, when Christ himself holds the globe, he is calledSalvator Mundi (Latin for 'Saviour of the World'). For instance, the 16th-centuryInfant Jesus of Prague statue holds aglobus cruciger in this manner.
Holding the world in one's hand, or, more ominously, under one's foot, has been a symbol since antiquity. To citizens of theRoman Empire, the plain spherical globe held by the godJupiter represented the world or the universe, as the dominion held by the Emperor. A 2nd-century coin from the reign ofEmperor Hadrian shows theRoman goddessSalus with her foot upon aglobus, and a 4th-century coin from the reign ofEmperor Constantine I shows him with aglobus in hand. Theorbis terrarum was central to the iconography of theTetrarchy, in which it represented the Tetrarchs' restoration of security to the Roman world. Constantine I claimed to have had a vision of symbol of Christ above the sun, with the words "In this sign, you shall conquer" (Latin: "In hoc signo vinces"), before theBattle of Milvian Bridge in AD 312. This symbol is usually assumed to be the "Chi-Rho (X-P)" symbol, but some think it was a cross. Consequently, his soldiers painted this symbol on their shields and then defeated their foe,Maxentius.
%2c_oil_on_poplar%2c_61.6_x_53_cm%2c_National_Gallery.jpg)
With the growth ofChristianity in the 5th century, the orb (in Latin worksorbis terrarum, the 'world of the lands', whence "orb" derives) was surmounted with across, henceglobus cruciger, symbolizing the Christian God's dominion of the world. The Emperor held the world in his hand to show that he ruled it on behalf of God. To non-Christians already familiar with thepagan globe, the surmounting of a cross indicated the victory of Christianity over the world.[3][4][5] In medieval iconography, the size of an object relative to those of nearby objects indicated its relative importance; therefore the orb was small and the one who held it was large to emphasize the nature of their relationship.[6] Although the globe symbolized the whole Earth, many Christian rulers, some of them not evensovereign, who reigned over small territories of the Earth, used it symbolically.[5][3]
One of the first known depictions in art of the symbol was in the late 4th century AD, possibly as early as AD 388, namely on the reverse side of the goldtremissii ofEmperor Theodosius I.[7]
Theglobus cruciger was associated with powerful rulers andangels; it adorned portrayals of bothemperors andkings, and alsoarchangels. It remained popular throughout the Middle Ages in coinage,iconography, and royalregalia. For example, it was often used byByzantine emperors in order to symbolize their authority and sovereignty over the Christian world, usually being done via coinage. The symbol was meant to demonstrate that the emperor ruled both politically and divinely.[8][9] Thepapacy, which in the Middle Ages rivaled theHoly Roman Emperor in temporal power, also used the symbol on top of thePapal tiara, which consisted of a triple crown; the Pope did not use a separate orb as a symbol. Theglobus cruciger (made up of amonde and cross) was generally featured as the finial of European royal crowns, whether on physical crowns or merely in royal heraldry, for example, in Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia. It is still depicted not only in the arms of European polities for which a monarchy survives, yet also, since the end ofcommunism in 1991, in the arms of some eastern European polities, despite the termination of their historical monarchies. Even in the modern era in theUnited Kingdom, theSovereign's Orb symbolizes both the state andChurch of England under the protection and domain of the monarchy.
The Orbs cruciger besides routinely features atop the domes of churches, from Saint Peter's in Rome, to Saint Paul's in London, and many others.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
![Regalia of Hungary [hu; de] with the orb; note the patriarchal cross on the orb](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBudapest_Parlament_Innen_Kuppelhalle_Ungarische_Kr%25C3%25B6nungsinsignien.JPG)
_(1780).png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Theglobus cruciger was used as thealchemical symbol (♁) forantimony. It was also used as an alchemical symbol forlupus metallorum "the grey wolf", supposedly used to purify alloyed metals into pure gold.Lupus metallorum (stibnite) was used to purify gold, as the sulphur in the antimony sulphide bonds to the metals alloyed with the gold, and these form a slag which can be removed. The gold remains dissolved in the metallic antimony which can be boiled off to leave the purified gold.[10]
Media related toGlobus cruciger at Wikimedia Commons
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
_Swastika_(%25D0%25A1%25D0%25B2%25D0%25B0%25D1%2581%25D1%2582%25D0%25B8%25D0%25BA%25D0%25B0)_-_Rodnovery.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
