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Reliquary Cross of Jacques de Vitry

Not on view

Several clues suggest that this cross was made in Acre, a gateway to the Holy Land for European Christian pilgrims, where Jacques de Vitry was bishop. The city was a wealthy international center for trade, where a goldsmith might incorporate twelfth-century Byzantine enamels into a newly created cross. Set in roundels that were trimmed to fit the new setting, the enamels of saints are not logically arranged, suggesting that the goldsmith could not read the Greek inscriptions identifying them.

Reliquary Cross of Jacques de Vitry, Cross: gilded silver, cloisonné enamel on gold, semiprecious stones, and glass; base: gilded copper

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Reliquary Cross of Jacques de Vitry, Cross: gilded silver, cloisonné enamel on gold, semiprecious stones, and glass; base: gilded copper
Reliquary Cross of Jacques de Vitry, Cross: gilded silver, cloisonné enamel on gold, semiprecious stones, and glass; base: gilded copper

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