Stele with Greek and Latin cross. Spain, 12th century.

Stele with Greek and Latin cross. Spain, 12th century.
In marble.
Measurements: 34 x 33 x 13.5 cm.

The piece corresponds to a medieval stone stele carved in marble, decorated on one of its faces with a Greek cross of equal arms inscribed within a geometric motif, while on the reverse side appears a Latin cross of simpler and more schematic outline. The execution presents a sober and deeply symbolic work of carving, characteristic of medieval sculpture of funerary or devotional character.

The work is situated within the context of 12th century Romanesque art, a period in which lapidary sculpture played an essential religious and funerary role. During the Middle Ages, crosses engraved on stone acted as signs of spiritual protection and as a visible affirmation of the Christian faith, being common on funerary stelae, monastic cairns, tombstones and elements linked to churches or necropolises.

The Greek cross, formed by four equal arms, has a long tradition in eastern and western medieval Christianity, symbolically associated with divine perfection and spiritual balance. On the other hand, the Latin cross on the reverse responds to the most widespread model in western Christian iconography, directly linked to the Crucifixion of Christ and salvation.

These types of pieces are especially representative of the symbolic languages of the Romanesque, where formal simplification and the spiritual value of the signs predominated over artistic naturalism. The direct carving and geometric schematism show a profoundly medieval conception of the image, conceived more as a devotional and protective element than as a decorative object.

Medieval stelae with engraved crosses were frequent in different European territories between the 11th and 13th centuries, especially in rural and monastic environments, where the carved stone functioned as a funerary marker, a sign of consecration or a symbol of Christian identity.