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Pax (Kußtafel or Monile)

ca. 1515–20
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 14
This ornate pax was used during the celebration of Mass for the kiss of peace. The engraved letters IHS in the rock crystal are a monogram of the Greek name for Jesus. The Virgin and Child flanked by St. James the Greater and a female saint (perhaps Dorothy) are engraved on the back of the pax. On the inside of the back plate is an inscription indicating that Jacob Ostrofski presented the pax to the church of Blonie (near Warsaw) in 1529.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pax (Kußtafel or Monile)
  • Date: ca. 1515–20
  • Geography: Made in Nuremberg(?), Germany
  • Culture: South German
  • Medium: Silver, silver gilt, rubies (or spinels), rock crystal
  • Dimensions: 6 1/4 x 4 15/16 in. (15.8 x 12.5 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Michel David-Weill Foundation Gift, 1992
  • Object Number: 1992.57a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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