Medieval Art & Manuscripts
The "Spitzer Cross"
MetalworkIvory & Enamel
Details
- Author / creator
- Master of the Royal Plantagenet Workshop (French)
- Object type
- Decorative arts
- Date or period
- c. 1190
- Dimensions summary
- Overall: 67.4 × 41.9 × 0.2 cm
- Place of origin
- France
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Art Fund grant and Friends of the Ashcombe Museum, 1923
- Text
- Unidentified text
- Script
- Gothic textualis
- Language
- Latin
- Image rights
- Public domain (CC0)
About this object
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.
Materials and technique
Copper: gilded, engraved, stippled; champlevé enamel; wood backing (modern)
Signature and marks
inscription on titulus: IHS XPS
