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Processional cross

ca. 1460–80
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 500
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Processional cross
  • Date: ca. 1460–80
  • Culture: Italian, Florence
  • Medium: Partly gilt silver, niello, and copper with traces of gilding, over wood
  • Dimensions: Overall: 21 3/4 × 12 3/4 in. (55.2 × 32.4 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.499
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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