Ceremonial Cross of Countess Gertrude (1038 or shortly after): Art, History and Details

Ceremonial Cross of Countess Gertrude (1038 or shortly after) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This precious gold cross was commissioned by Countess Gertrude (died 1077) and given to the church of Saint Blaise following the death of her husband, Count Liudolf of Brunswick (died 1038). The cross was intended to be carried in liturgical processions or to be placed on a church altar. The inclusion of relics within the crosses endowed them with an additional role as devotional objects. At the center of the four cross arms, fine but much damaged cloisonné enamel plaques represent the symbols of the four Evangelists--an eagle for Saint John (above); a lion for Saint Mark (on the left); an ox for Saint Luke (on the right); and an angel for Saint Matthew (below). Pearls and precious and semiprecious stones are set within an intricate network of gold filigree while a large sapphire, inscribed in a circle and likewise surrounded by pearls and precious stones, is placed at the crossing.

Object facts

• Title: Ceremonial Cross of Countess Gertrude
• Date: 1038 or shortly after
• Culture: Germany, Lower Saxony?, 11th century
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: gold: worked in repoussé; cloisonné enamel, intaglio gems, pearls, wood core
• Dimensions: Overall: 24.2 x 21.6 cm (9 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Romanesque
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1931.55

A detail from the museum

Countess Gertrude's name appears on the back of the cross at the bottom.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund with the addition of a gift from Mrs. Edward B. Greene

Further reading listed by the museum

• Milliken, William M. "The Gertrudis Altar and Two Crosses." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 18, no. 2 (1931).
• Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition: June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936.
• Milliken, William. "Silver Jubilee Exhibition." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 28, no.6 (June 1941): 88-108

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.