page_title: Reliquary Cross (The Cloisters)
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Reliquary Cross (The Cloisters) / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Reliquary Cross, The Cloisters, NYC
context_page_description: The Reliquary Cross is a small French metalwork sculpture dated c. 1180, now in The Cloisters museum in New York. The reliquary cross is double armed, and made from silver gilt, crystal, beading and twisted wire, with embossed rosettes and a wood core. It contains six sequences of engravings; on either side of the shaft and on the four sides of the lower arms. These were intended to identify the relics contained within.
  The cross originates from Limoges, France, possibly from the Grandmont Abbey. It was in the Paris collection of one Félix Doistau from 1846–1936. It was acquired by the Cloisters in 2002.
context_section_description: It is heavily engraved with lettering, and studded on both sides with more than 60 individual glass cabochons (faux coloured gemstones). Two prominent examples on the reverse emulate turquoise and sardonyx stone. These closely resemble similar gems of the "Chasse of Ambaza", another renowned Limoges reliquary, while the oddly place inscriptions are also a feature of contemporary sculpture of the region.
  The gemstones are probably intended as particular mementos for the region, to signify the devotion of local churchmen and nobility to the Holy Land.
caption: Detail, showing the inscriptions "De calvarie" (underside, lower left arm) and "De nativitate dñi" (underside, lower right arm).
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