Calvary

Calvary, the conventional English rendering of the calvaria of the Vulgate, the Latin version of the Greek κράνιον, both meaning “skull” and representing the Hebrew Golgotha, the name given to the scene of Christ’s crucifixion. The term “a Calvary” is applied to a sculptured representation of the Crucifixion, either inside a church, or adjoining one in the open air. There are many examples of the latter in France, Italy and Spain. Among the most important are the Sacro Monte (1486) at Varallo in Piedmont, and those at Guimiliau (1581), Plougastel (1602), St Thegonnec (1610), and Pleyben near Quimper (1670), in Brittany, all in good preservation.