of the Emperors had Monophysite sympathies. It was the Nestorians, another heretical force of the opposite persuasion, who helped to popularize images of Christ on the cross. In so-called "mystical" images, such as the apse mosaic at the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (549), the jewelled cross stands specifically as a symbol for Christ. A poem by St Paulinus of Nola allows a reconstruction of a mosaic apse he had (as bishop) commissioned in the basilica of St Felix of Nola at Cimitile in the early 5th century. The whole Trinity was shown, represented by a Hand of God for God the Father at the top, above a large crux gemmata with stars in a circular frame, so very similar to Sant' Apollinare in Classe, and below that a dove for the Holy Spirit. At the bottom of the semi-dome were twelve lambs, six on each side, with a haloed Lamb of God on a raised hillock in the centre, looking up. The bottom of the mosaic at Santa Pudenziana in Rome originally also had a bottom level with this. The crux gemmata is commonly seen on coins, often held by a figure of Victory, especially in the Eastern Empire. Another common Byzantine coin type shows a cross with a stepped base, which should be understood as a crux gemmata even though scale does not normally allow any indication of gems. Contrary to the assertion of Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code, it is not especially typical for a cross to have thirteen gems, though when one does, it probably does symbolize Jesus Christ and his Twelve Apostles. The apse mosaic in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (c. 1220) has an example with thirteen jewels, but examples from the first millennium generally have more. It is not usual to use the term "crux gemmata" for crosses from more recent periods, especially for small crosses that fall under the category of jewellery. Notes References Friesen, Ilse E., The Female Crucifix: Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2001, , google books Hellemo, Geir. Adventus Domini: eschatological thought in 4th-century apses and catecheses, BRILL, 1989, , google books Schiller, Gertrud, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. I, 1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, Schiller, Gertrud, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II, 1972 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, Eduard