Mexican Crosses: The Guadalupe Cross

Probably the best known and the most ornate of Mexican stone crosses, the magnificent Guadalupe cross, now occupies pride of place in the museum of the Basilica at Tepeyac, the heart of the national shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe. A 1709 painting by José de Arellano shows the cross mounted in front of the newly built Basilica.

This seminal cross, carved from warm gray limestone and now set on a high, modern base, probably dates from the mid-1500s. It is oval in section and is monolithic save for the inscribed placard at its head.

Christ’s Face at the crossing is quite small although finely drawn in low relief, and wears an abbreviated crown of Thorns and a forked beard. A puffy, necklace style Crown is draped around the foreshortened neck and superimposed on reliefs of liturgical Stoles with decorative tassels that wrap around the arms on either side.

Beyond these, at the end of each arm, elongated streams of blood exude from Wounds impaled with large stone Spikes that extend at an angle in high relief. The arms taper towards the ends, terminating in modest corollas of abbreviated, petaled finials.

 

A full complement of Passion symbols is carved in relief around the shaft of the cross. In front, a third Wound in the same style is emblazoned above a Chalice from which emerges the inscribed Host. Above, delicately carved sun, moon and stars flank a festooned Column with a Rooster atop. A crossed Spear and Corn plant flank the Chalice on one side with a Reed, or hyssop, on the other.

The rather overbearing INRI plaque atop the cross is probably a later addition, notable for its intricately carved pomegranates and cherubs’ heads

While the highly skilled sculptor of this famous cross is unknown, its direct influence can be seen in other crosses of the region, notably at nearby Atzacoalco, and at Huichapan and Tlahuelilpa among others in the adjacent state of Hidalgo 

text and images ©2023/2025 Richard D. Perry