One of the largest early crosses to survive, this severely simple work is part of the Antioch Treasure displayed in the case to the left. Crosses were carried in church processions. In Syria, monumental crosses were also prominently mounted in churches, before the altar.
Inscribed on the face of the cross is the Trisagion, or thrice-holy hymn, sung at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy: “God is Holy, the All-Powerful is Holy, the Immortal is Holy.” Some believe that the refrain was developed in Antioch; its first recorded chanting was by the bishops of Antioch at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. On the back of the cross is the proud statement of its donation “in fulfillment of a vow of Herodotos and Komitas, [sons] of Pantaleon.”
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Artwork Details
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Title:Processional Cross
Date:6th century, with modern restoration
Geography:Made in Antioch or Kaper Koraon (?)
Culture:Syrian
Medium:Silver, mounted on wood
Dimensions:Overall: 60 5/8 x 40 1/2 x 2 in. (154 x 102.9 x 5.1 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1950
Accession Number:50.5.3
Inscription: Side 1: "God is Holy, the All-Powerful is Holy, the immortal is Holy, Have mercy on us." Side 2: "In fulfillment of a vow of Herodotos and Komitas (sons) of Panteleon."
From Roman Syria, possibly Antioch or Kaper Koraon; Kouchakji Frères, Paris (sold 1950)
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan. "Exposition internationale d'art byzantin," May 28–July 9, 1931.
Worcester Art Museum. "The Dark Ages, loan exhibition of early Christian and Byzantine art," February 20–March 21, 1937.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Early Christian and Byzantine art, an exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art," April 25–June 22, 1947.
Walters Art Museum. "Silver from Early Byzantium," April 18–August 17, 1986.
Worcester Art Museum. "Antioch: The Lost Ancient City," October 7, 2000–February 4, 2001.
The Dark Ages: Loan Exhibition of Pagan and Christian Art in the Latin West and Byzantine East. Worcester, Mass.: Worcester Art Museum, 1937. no. 82, pp. 35–36.
Miner, Dorothy, ed. Early Christian and Byzantine Art: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 1947. no. 389, p. 86.
Downey, Glanville. "The Inscription on a Silver Chalice from Syria in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." American Journal of Archaeology 55, no. 4 (October 1951). p. 349.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eighty-First Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year 1950." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 10, no. 1 (Summer 1951). p. 26.
Downey, Glanville. "A Processional Cross." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12, no. 9 (May 1954). pp. 276–80.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Guide to the Collections: Medieval Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962. fig. 10.
Mango, Marlia Mundell. Silver From Early Byzantium: The Kaper Koraon and Related Treasures. Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1986. no. 42a, pp. 18, 28–33, 63, 192–97, fig. 42.1–42.4 and 42.7–42.8.
Durand, Jannic, ed. Byzance: L'Art Byzantin dans les Collections Publiques Françaises. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1992. p. 119, fig. 2.
Kartsonis, Anna D. "The Emancipation of the Crucifixion." In Byzance et les images: Cycle de conférences organisé au musée du Louvre par le Service culturel du 5 octobre au 7 décembre 1992. Louvre conférences et colloques. Paris: Documentation française, 1994. pp. 172–77, fig. 19–22.
Kondoleon, Christine. Antioch: The Lost Ancient City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000. no. 105, p. 216.
Les croix-reliquaires pectorales byzantines en bronze. Bibliothèque des cahiers archéologiques, Vol. 16. Paris: Picard, 2006. p. 105 n. 482.
Hunter-Crawley, Heather. "The Cross of Light: Experiencing Divine Presence in Byzantine Syria." In Experiencing Byzantium: Papers from the 44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Newcastle and Durham, April 2011, edited by Claire Nesbitt, and Mark Jackson. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2011. pp. 181–183, fig. 10.2.
Kitzinger, Beatrice E., and Cambridge University Press. The cross, the Gospels, and the work of art in the Carolingian Age. Cambridge, 2019. pp. 40, 222 (p. 40 n. 37), 231 (p. 65 n. 91), 239 (p. 89 n. 142), 241 (p. 97 n. 153), 257 (p. 139 n. 60).
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