This iconic image of two angels originally crowned the top of a cross. With chalk-white faces and furrowed brows, the angels mournfully bear witness to the Crucifixion. Symbolically and ceremonially, they proclaim the death of Jesus by swinging censers, since fragrant incense was used in funerals and at the altar during Mass, which is a reenactment of Christ's sacrifice. Set against a ground that is exquisitely engraved and shimmering with gold, the angels, in their lapis-colored robes, appear to hover in the heavens.

If we use the proportions of smaller surviving crosses as a guide, the height of the original cross can be estimated as greater than four feet. Decorated on both sides, it was surely one of the most ambitious crosses ever produced in Limoges. While enamels from this city in central France were renowned across Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this cross was almost certainly made for the diocese of Limoges itself. One of the three other plaques from the cross (now in the Museo Sacro Vaticano and the British Museum, London) was recorded in the city soon after the French Revolution, when large ensembles of goldsmiths' work were systematically destroyed.