The "Spitzer Cross" (c. 1190): Art, History and Details

The "Spitzer Cross" (c. 1190) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of the Royal Plantagenet Workshop (French).

The work and its context

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

This fine enameled cross is named the "Spitzer Cross" after the Viennese art dealer and collector Baron Frédéric Spitzer, who owned it in the 19th century. It has justly been hailed as the finest Limoges enameled cross to survive. The work’s coloration exemplifies its refined craftsmanship. Rendered in white enamel, with fine lines defining the rib cage, abdomen, and muscles, Christ’s body contrasts strikingly with the vibrant green, blue, and yellow of his halo, loincloth, and the cross.

Object facts

• Title: The "Spitzer Cross"
• Date: c. 1190
• Creator attribution: Master of the Royal Plantagenet Workshop (French)
• Culture: France, Limoges
• Type: Enamel
• Technique: copper: gilded, engraved, stippled; champlevé enamel; wood backing (modern)
• Dimensions: Overall: 67.4 x 41.9 x 0.2 cm (26 9/16 x 16 1/2 x 1/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1923.1051

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• W. M. M. “The Limoges Enamel Cross from the Spitzer Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 11, no. 2 (February 1924): 30–33, 36-37.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
• W. M. M., T. S., R. H., and F. A. W. “In Memoriam: Jeptha Homer Wade.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 4 (April 1926): 63–91.

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.