German, probably Brunswick (Braunschweig)
Altar Cross
INV-8254
German, probably Brunswick (Braunschweig)c. 1325; foot: 15th century
Altar Cross
German, probably Brunswick (Braunschweig)
silvermetalwork
Date
c. 1325; foot: 15th century
Medium
Silver gilt over a wooden core; foot: copper gilt
Dimensions
H.: 19.7 cm (7 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of the Antiquarian Society
This silver-gilt cross with the figure of the crucified Christ was meant to be placed on an altar. Each arm of the cross terminates with a roundel containing the symbols of the four Evangelists: the angel for Saint Matthew, the lion for Saint Mark, the ox for Saint Luke, and the eagle for Saint John the Evangelist. These four images were cast from the same molds used for the Evangelist symbols that decorate a silver book cover made for a liturgical manuscript written in 1326, now housed in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin. This reuse of molds provides valuable insight into workshop practices under the patronage of Otto the Mild, Duke of Saxony (r. 1318–46).
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Reliquary Monstrance with a Relic of Saint Christina
German; probably Brunswick ( Braunschweig)
Reliquary Monstrance with Relics of Saints Anianus and Lawrence
German, probably Brunswick (Braunschweig)
Footed Pyx Used as a Reliquary
German; probably Brunswick (Braunschweig)
Reliquary Cross with the Arms of the Veltheim Family
German; Brunswick (Braunschweig)