Processional Cross

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This cross conveys the luxury found within churches that dotted the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain during the Middle Ages. It comes from a twelfth-century church fifty miles east of Oviedo, once the capital of the kingdom of Asturias. The cross shows a crowned, crucified Jesus flanked on the cross’ arms by the Virgin Mary and Saint John. An angel appears at the top, as Adam rises from his grave at the bottom. A rock crystal above Jesus’ head covers a cavity that still holds an unidentified relic. Gilded filigree bars attached to each of the arms of the cross served as settings for an array of gems, including antique intaglios. Only two remain—one showing an ancient figure of Victory, and the other a male nude with a fish and spear—both prized embellishments suitable for a sumptuous object. A Latin inscription on the reverse reads: “In honor of the Holy Savior: Sanccia [Sancha] Guidisalvi had me made.” The feminine ending of Sanccia indicates that the donor, or possibly the goldsmith, was a woman.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art