Altar Cross (c. 1325; foot: 15th century): Artwork and History

Altar Cross (c. 1325; foot: 15th century) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as German, probably Brunswick (Braunschweig).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

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).

Object facts

• Title: Altar Cross
• Date: c. 1325; foot: 15th century
• Artist attribution: German, probably Brunswick (Braunschweig)
• Place of origin: Brunswick
• Medium: Silver gilt over a wooden core; foot: copper gilt
• Dimensions: H.: 19.7 cm (7 3/4 in.)
• Type: Metalwork
• Department: Applied Arts of Europe
• Reference number: 1931.263

Collection credit

Gift of the Antiquarian Society

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.