Images: Dumbarton Oaks
Clavis number: ECMA 109
Other descriptors: Saint Thecla Votive Cross; Cross with Bust of St. Thekla
Location: Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.
Accession Number: BZ.1952.5
Category: crosses
Related Literature: Acts of Paul and Thecla, Life and Miracles of Thecla
Featured characters and locations: Thecla
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: Bronze with lead seating
Size: 7.7 × 6.2 cm
Image: the bronze cross is embedded into a mass of lead, most likely from when it was attached to a column or a wall, and features an engraved bust above a dedicatory inscription. The bust, located at the top of the cross, depicts Thecla as a veiled orant figure. The inscription first follows the vertical axis before continuing along the horizontal part of the cross; the inscription reads, “Saint Thekla, Help Simionios and Sienesios and Mary and Thekla.”
Inscription: Ἁγία Θέκλα, βοήθι Συμιονίου κ(αὶ) Συνεσίου καὶ Μαρίᾳ κ(αὶ) Θέκλᾳ; “Saint Thekla, Help Simionios and Sienesios and Mary and Thekla.”
Date: 7th cent.
Provenance: Syria
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
The Saint Thecla Cross does not directly relate to any specific scene or story present within apocryphal literature; however, this cross does generally speak to Thecla’s popularity throughout the ancient world. More specifically, this cross not only demonstrates the widespread circulation of texts related to Thecla but also showcases the fact that Thecla became a notable figure for early Christians.
Furthermore, the inscription, which reads, “Saint Thekla, Help Simionios and Sienesios and Mary and Thekla,” likely means that this cross was offered by a family as an ex-voto (ex voto suscepto), which is a votive offering that is usually placed in a church or shrine. Considering that the inscription is making an invocation for help from Thecla, this cross could potentially be related to a scene or description in apocryphal literature where Thecla helped or healed someone. A potential example of a text that this cross could be based on comes from the expanded version of the Acts of Paul and Thecla.
“And a good report was spread everywhere concerning her [Thecla]; and cures were done by her. All the city, therefore and the country around, having learnt this, brought their sick to the mountain, and before they came near the door they were speedily released from whatever disease they were afflicted with; and the unclean spirits went out shrieking, and all received their own people in health, glorifying God who had given such grace to the virgin Thecla.” (trans. J. K. Elliot, The Apocryphal New Testament [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993], 373.)
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, Stephen J. The Cult of Saint Thecla: A Tradition of Women’s Piety in Late Antiquity. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008 (pp. 131–32; PS15, fig. 15).
Kalavrezou, Ioli and Angeliki E. Laiou. Byzantine Women and Their World. Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums, 2003 (p. 135, fig. 67).
Pitairakis, Brigitte. “Female Piety in Context: Understanding Developments in Private Devotional Practices.” Pages 209–22 in Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium. Edited by Maria Vassilaki. London: Routledge, 2005 (pp. 155; 164, fig. 13.4).
Schurr, Eva. Die Ikonographie der Heiligen: Eine Entwicklungsgeschichte Ihrer Attribute von den Anfängen bis zum Achten Jahrhundert. Dettelbach: J.H. Röll, 1997 (p. 215).
Vikan, Gary. Early Byzantine Pilgrimage Art. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2010 (p. 72, fig. 50).
Warns, Rüdiger. “Weitere Darstellungen der Heiligen Thekla.” Pages 75–137 in Studien zur Frühchristilichen Kunst II. Edited by Guntram Koch. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1986 9 (pp. 104–105).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
“Cross with Prayer to Thekla.” A&A e-Portal.
Entry created by Joseph Foltz, under the supervision of Christy Cobb, University of Denver, 2 December 2023.