Cross
sculptor
Unknown
Date17th century - 18th century
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumCarved wood inlaid with mother of pearl and bone
Dimensions40.2 x 15.9 cm (15 13/16 x 6 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS33s73
eMuseum ID730706
Previous NumberXS9
EmbARK ObjectID16365
TMS Source ID4696
Last Updated10/8/24
Status
Not on viewWeb Commentary
This cross was likely made in a family-owned workshop of Arab-Christian artisans in Bethlehem or Jerusalem who carved objects from olive wood and inlaid them with mother-of-pearl and animal bone. Known for elaborate models of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the workshops relied on the sale of crosses, rosaries, crowns, and small boxes to pilgrims, people who traveled to the area to visit sacred places.
The base of the cross is decorated with the Franciscan Coat of Arms, a cross with two arms (one of Christ, the other of St. Francis of Assisi) crossing each other. Franciscans, a mendicant religious order within the Catholic Church, facilitated the trade of Christian objects like this throughout western Europe. Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased this cross in Venice in 1893. Today the cross is in the Vatichino gallery. There is another wood cross in the collection that is likely from the same series of workshops in the Spanish Chapel and sits on top of a prie-dieu, which is a type of kneeling bench designed for use by a person at prayer.
BibliographyNotesMichele Piccirillo. La Nuova Gerusalemme: Artigianato Palestinese al servizio dei Luoghi Santi (Bergamo, 2007).
Jonathan Williams et al. "Sacred souvenir: the Holy Sepulchre models in the British Museum." The British Museum Technical Research Bulletin, Volume 8, 2014, p. 29-38. https://archetype.co.uk/our-titles/the-british-museum-technical-research-bulletin-volume-8/?id=220
Jennifer Poulin and Stephanie Barnes. "Report: Analysis of samples from a 17th or 18th century wooden model of the Holy Sepulchre Church for the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario." Canadian Conservation Institute, 31 March 2023.
Rehav Rubin. "Relief Maps and Models in the Archives of The Palestine Exploration Fund in London." Palestine Exploration Quarterly (2006) 138:1, 43-63, DOI: 10.1179/003103205x63016
Kaeley Ferguson, "Treatment of Mother-of-Pearl, Bone, and Wooden Cross," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 16 November 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/treatment-mother-of-pearl-bone-wooden-cross
Kaeley Ferguson, "Treatment of Mother-of-Pearl, Bone, and Wooden Cross," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 16 November 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/treatment-mother-of-pearl-bone-wooden-cross
Rosie Weech. "Models of the Holy Sepulchre." Bearers of the Cross. Accessed 28 September 2023. https://www.bearersofthecross.org.uk/interpreting-the-collections/models-of-the-holy-sepulchre/
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice in 1893.
Unknown