The Elevation of the Cross

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his... trial and execution by crucifixion. The Crucifixion of Jesus is an event central to Christian beliefs. The etymological origins of the word lie in the Greek verb paschō, to suffer, from passages such as Matthew and Acts 1:3. The Latin word passio is used with reference to Christ's mortal suffering in the Vulgate. The term first appears in 2nd century Christian texts precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context. The word passion has since taken on a more general application and now also describes the accounts of Christian martyrs. The term the Agony of Jesus is more specifically applied to the Agony in the Garden Jesus' action praying before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane; similarly to passion, agony has been extended to denote a frame of mind. Those parts of the four Gospels that describe these events are known as the "Passion narratives". The non-canonical Gospel of Peter is also a Passion narrative.
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The Baroque is a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance,... and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music. The style started around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of Europe. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent, in response to the Protestant Reformation, that the arts should communicate religious themes in direct and emotional involvement. The aristocracy also saw the dramatic style of Baroque architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors and expressing triumphant power and control. Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word baroque is derived from the Portuguese word "barroco", Spanish "barroco", or French "baroque", all of which refer to a "rough or imperfect pearl", though whether it entered those languages via Latin, Arabic, or some other source is uncertain.
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