calvary

calvary.
A sculptural representation of the Crucifixion, which took place on the hill of Calvary, or Golgotha, outside Jerusalem. The term is sometimes applied to any wayside Crucifix or to chapels with a series of carvings of Christ's Passion, but it is more appropriate to groups of figures that represent or symbolize the whole scene, such as those found in the open air in Brittany, dating from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. Some are extremely simple, others include great numbers of figures variously arranged, usually on one or more stone bases. The remarkable concentration of calvaries in Brittany is unexplained, but it is clear that only in a remote and isolated region could the creation of such essentially medieval works have persisted so late. According to one theory the Breton calvaries are translations into stone of the medieval mystery plays in which scenes from the life of Christ were enacted in front of the churches.