The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Processional cross

Processional cross

Date:: ca. 1460–80
Culture:: Italian, Florence
Medium:: Partly gilt silver, niello, and copper with traces of gilding, over wood
Dimensions:: H. 21 3/4 x W. 12 3/4 in. (55.2 x 32.4 cm)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.499

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 500

Description

Inscriptions on the back of this object indicate that it served as the repository for a relic believed to be a fragment of the True Cross and that it is thought to have been made for a convent of the Poor Clares, probably in Florence. It is an extraordinary example of Florentine Renaissance metalwork, incorporating within its silver-gilt frame a series of twenty silver plaques with nielloed scenes depicting the Passion of Christ and various saints.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: [above reliquary window]: LIGNUM CRUCIS; [on base]: QUESTA CROC[E] E /DEI[L]E POV /ERE MON /ACHE DI /SANTA CHI /RA [D AVE /RNA ?] (partial trans.: This cross is made for the Poor Sisters of Santa Chiara...); [on plaque of The Last Supper]: ABL (cypher of Baccio Baldini)
Provenance

Convent of the Poor Clares (Santa Chiara), probably the one in FlorenceKarl Thewalt (by 1902–1903; Thewalt, Karl sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 1903, no. 985; sold to Julius Campe); Julius Campe (from 1903) ; J. Pierpont Morgan (until 1913) ; by descent, J. P. Morgan Jr. (1913–17; to MMA)
See also
What
Metal (59,369)

Metalwork (14,716)

Silver (14,057)

Gilt (9,043)

Wood (7,651)

Copper (6,255)

Crosses (191)

Niellos (146)

Processional crosses (5)
Where
Europe (148,590)

Italy (20,984)

Tuscany (1,162)

Florence (506)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,548)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
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