Crucifix
maker
Unknown
Datemid 12th century
Place MadeFrance, Europe
MediumCopper alloy (perhaps bronze)
Dimensions35 x 19.8 cm (13 3/4 x 7 13/16 in.)
ClassificationsCeremonial Objects
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberM27w24
eMuseum ID728817
Previous Number263
Previous NumberM27w24 (KP, 2000)
EmbARK ObjectID13078
Original Numbernone below P27w24 (I&N)
TMS Source ID2089
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis small bronze sculpture of Christ on the Cross was made to be placed on the altar during Mass. The crucifix was originally completely gilded and would have appeared as a glimmering, if diminutive, precious object. This type of crucifix became common in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in response to changes in liturgy which encouraged the placement of crosses on altars. Religious texts of around 1100 state that a cross acts as a focus for prayer, a visual reminder of the Christ’s suffering, and an encouragement to the congregation.
Isabella Stewart Gardner was drawn to religious art and acquired a significant number of crosses and crucifixes. This is the first complete bronze Romanesque crucifix to enter an American museum. The body of Christ is still attached to its cross, and at the bottom is the original iron pin that allowed the cross to be inserted into a base or a slot in the altar.
Source: Alan Chong, "Crucifix," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 19.
Isabella Stewart Gardner was drawn to religious art and acquired a significant number of crosses and crucifixes. This is the first complete bronze Romanesque crucifix to enter an American museum. The body of Christ is still attached to its cross, and at the bottom is the original iron pin that allowed the cross to be inserted into a base or a slot in the altar.
Source: Alan Chong, "Crucifix," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 19.
BibliographyNotesRegine Marth. Untersuchungen zu romanischen Bronzekreuzen: Ikonographie, Funktion, Stil (Frankfurt, 1988), p. 353.
Peter Bloch. Romanische Bronzekruzifixe. Bronzegeräte des Mittelalters, vol. 5 (Berlin, 1992), pp. 28 fig. I F 6, 97, 99 (as French?, mid-12th century)
Alan Chong and Giovanna De Appolonia. The Art of the Cross: Medieval and Renaissance Piety in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2001), pp. 14, 19, 22, 25-26, 47, 49-50, 53-54, cat. 1.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 19, ill.
Peter Bloch. Romanische Bronzekruzifixe. Bronzegeräte des Mittelalters, vol. 5 (Berlin, 1992), pp. 28 fig. I F 6, 97, 99 (as French?, mid-12th century)
Alan Chong and Giovanna De Appolonia. The Art of the Cross: Medieval and Renaissance Piety in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2001), pp. 14, 19, 22, 25-26, 47, 49-50, 53-54, cat. 1.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 19, ill.
ProvenanceNotesProbably purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the dealer Antonio Carrer (d. 1912), Venice, for 400 lire on 25 September 1897. Alternatively, it may have been purchased from the antiques dealers Moisè Dalla Torre and Co., Venice, for 30 lire in June 1884. [See the record for M27w40, Crucified Christ (from a Processional Cross)]
