Mäsquäl (processional cross) with incised decoration
Mäsquäl (processional cross) with incised decoration
Mäsquäl (processional cross) with incised decoration
Mäsquäl (processional cross) with incised decoration

On view

African Art
Princeton Collects

Mäsquäl (processional cross) with incised decoration,

ca. 1480–1500

Artist unidentified
Ethiopian
2023-190

Processional crosses are essential to liturgical ceremonies in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Priests and deacons carry them, mounted on long wooden staffs, in processions and during the reading of the Gospels. Priests also use processional crosses to bless the eucharistic vessels and holy water, and to offer blessings at the end of liturgical services. When the cross is in use, fabric symbolizing the shroud of Christ is slid through the loops beneath it, draping the shaft. The lozenge-shaped cross exemplifies a form that developed in the late fifteenth century. Its perforated arabesque ornamentation frames a central panel incised with the image of the Virgin with Child and archangels on the front, and Saints Peter and Paul on the back—iconography resembling painted icons. The round cross, produced by the lost-wax technique, consists of a central cross symbolizing Christ and smaller crosses at the top representing the twelve disciples.

Meseret Oldjira, Graduate School Class of 2024

Information

Title
Mäsquäl (processional cross) with incised decoration
Dates

ca. 1480–1500

Maker
Artist unidentified
Medium
Brass
Dimensions
32.6 × 25.6 cm (12 13/16 × 10 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Stephen Crawford, Class of 1970, and Elizabeth Crawford
Object Number
2023-190
Place Made

Africa, Ethiopia, Amhara or Tigray region

Culture
African
Period
Ethiopian styles
Type
crosses (objects)

Private Collection, Switzerland. [Purchased by Frezza, Lungano, Switzerland, by 2006]; [purchased by Sam Fogg, London, UK, 2006]; purchased by Stephen Crawford, Chicago, IL, 2007; donated to the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 2023.

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