The Birka Crucifix – Sweden’s Oldest Christian Crucifix
This famous little crucifix was discovered in a wealthy woman’s grave in Birka. She had probably worn it as a pendant around her neck. Dating from the 9th century, it is the oldest crucifix known in Sweden. Its form and workmanship suggest that it was made by a Scandinavian smith who was more accustomed to working with pagan animal ornamentation.
Crucifix
Crucifix of silver found at Birka.
On view at Historiska museet in the exhibition Guldrummet
The pendant is crafted in silver and decorated with granulation, tiny silver beads. The figure of Christ is bound to the cross rather than nailed. It may originally have been gilded, as two similar gilded examples have been found in Denmark through metal-detecting.
One theory holds that the crucifix was designed to resemble a depiction of Christ in a manuscript written in the year 814 by the Benedictine monk Rabanus Maurus. Maurus later became bishop of Mainz and served as adviser to the Frankish king Louis the Pious.
