Lily Crucifixion, Early 15th Century
St Michael at the Northgate
By kind permission of the Rector and Churchwardens, The City Church of St Michael-at-the-Northgate, Oxford
From the end of the fourteenth century, artists began to combine the iconography of the Annunciation and the Crucifixion by depicting Christ crucified on a lily amid an Annunciation scene. The Lily Crucifixion is a distinctive and beautiful image found almost uniquely in English medieval art. The lily is the symbol of Mary and is often referenced in depictions of the Annunciation and in poetry about the Virgin. The Lily Crucifixion at St Michael-at-the-Northgate was also originally part of an Annunciation scene, although the other panels are now lost.
Listen to a reflection by Professor Peter Davidson, Archivist and Fellow, Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
