17th-century Spanish school

17th-century Spanish school.
“Cell Cross.”
Oil on panel.
Frame from ca. 1900.
Measurements: 46 x 32 cm; 84 x 56 x 7 cm.

A carved and polychrome wooden “Cruz de celda,” featuring a Latin cross with a painted depiction of Christ crucified against a dark background, framed by an exuberant openwork carving in the Baroque style consisting of scrolls, volutes, and plant motifs, polychromed in ivory tones with gilded details and subtle touches of blue-green. It is called a “cell cross” because it was intended for private devotion in the cell of a monk or nun, where it presided over prayer and personal contemplation, differing from altar or processional crosses in that it was used within a monastic or domestic setting.