A Crucifix Figure

This jet figure from a crucifix is made in Santiago de Compostela in Spain in ca. 1600-1700. The prime function of jets seems to have been to signify that pilgrims had completed their journeys, and reached the shrine of St James (the patron Saint of Spain) at the Cathedral of Santiago, which pilgrims did over the course of six hundred years, from the twelfth to the eighteenth century.

This figure is originally from a crucifix. It seems likely that the figure was made of separate pieces of jet joined together, and this is why it was more vulnerable to damage. Twenty-one small holes drilled into the crown of thorns almost certainly held thorns. Also the arms were dowelled in.