El Señor de Esquipulas

This crucifix is from the Church of Santa Maria della Luce, Rome, which serves the Hispanic population of that city.

Esquipulas is a town in Guatemala where the original Señor de Esquipulas was carved in the 16th century – with dark skin, it is said, to reflect the native population.  The crucifix is sometimes called El Cristo Negro, the Black Christ.

El Cristo de Chimayo, a New Mexican iconographic tradition, is sometimes also called El Señor de Esquipulas.

The figure of St. Mary Magdalene in this particular instance of the Esquipulas crucifix is remarkable for its 1950s-style adaptation of the saint's clinging to the Cross.

Read more about Crosses and Crucifixes and about St. Mary Magdalene.

Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.