One of the things that I love about cemeteries, large and small, is the beautiful and moving artwork that you come across. The crucifix on the gravestone in the Rock Creek Cemetery at Washington, D.C., is not a traditional representation. But, the sculpture is expressive and moving demonstrating the pain and the suffering of Christ on the cross.

The symbol of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross is called a crucifix. This cross, which is not a part of the sculpture, though ever present, demonstrates the suffering of Christ.

The word crucifix is from Latin and is the combination of two words—cruci and fixus—which translates to one fixed to a cross.