Roof Boss (1400s): Art, History and Details

Roof Boss (1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In medieval architecture, a "boss" refers to an ornamentally carved, often painted and gilded, keystone. It was placed at the intersection of ribs in a vaulted roof in order to lock its members into position. Noteworthy examples are found in many of Europe's monastic cloisters and cathedrals. This example and the other shown nearby are reportedly from the vaulted ceiling of a monastery in Northern Spain. Their principal decorative motif consists of a spray of acanthus leaves.

Object facts

• Title: Roof Boss
• Date: 1400s
• Culture: Northern Spain, 15th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: limestone with traces of polychromy
• Dimensions: Overall: 76.2 x 76.2 cm (30 x 30 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1919.1024

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

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.