On view
European Art
Processional cross,
ca. 1100–50
Tirolus Iafarinus, Italian, 12th century
y97
This cross would have been mounted on a pole and carried in a liturgical procession with a sculpture of Christ’s crucified body, like the bronze one on view in this case, affixed to its front. On the reverse, Christ is shown in majesty sur-rounded by symbols of the evangelists, the authors of the Gospels: an eagle for Saint John, a lion for Saint Mark, an angel for Saint Matthew, and an ox for Saint Luke. At the foot of the cross is a rare instance of a medieval artist’s signature, suggesting pride in his skill and the act of art making as a form of devotion.
Information
Title
Processional cross
Dates
ca. 1100–50
Maker
Medium
Copper with gilding
Dimensions
50.7 × 25.3 × 0.6 cm (19 15/16 × 9 15/16 × 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Class of 1906, for the Carl Otto von Kienbusch Jr., Memorial Collection
Object Number
y97
Place Made
Italy
Signatures
See inscription.
Inscription
Inscribed, verso, bottom: VOS QVI ASPIZITIS DM ROGATE P(ro) M(e)/TIROLO - IAFARINO Q(vi) ME FECIT
Culture
Period
Type
Materials
Subject
Possibly from a tomb in Perugia, Italy. [1]
Unknown party in Belluno, Italy. [2]
Purchased in 1924 by The Princeton University Art Museum as a gift of Carl Otto von Kienbusch for the Carl Otto von Kienbusch Jr. Memorial Collection.
NOTES:
[1] The accession card states that it is "said to have come from a tomb in Perugia."
[2] See accession card.
-
The Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Jr. Memorial Collection (Princeton: Princeton University Art Museum, 1956)
, cat. no. 3 - R. G. Calkins, A medieval treasury: an exhibition of Medieval art from the third to the sixteenth century, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1968)., cat. no. 42, p. 129f, pl. 42 (illus.)
- Barbara T. Ross, "The Mather years 1922-1946," in "An art museum for Princeton: the early years", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 55, no. 1/2 (1996): p. 53–76., fig. 12, p. 63
