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Processional Cross

1400-1410 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a rare surviving example of a double-armed processional cross from early-fifteenth-century Barcelona. Its special form indicates it was made for a cathedral, the church which contains the official seat of the bishop in a diocese. The engraved silver plaques would originally have been enamelled with bright, translucent colours. On the front of the cross, scenes of Christ's final hours and of His Resurrection are arranged above the cast and applied figure of the crucified Christ. The plaque at the top of the cross which depicts a pelican plucking at its breast is symbolic of Jesus's sacrifice. On the back of the cross is the cast and applied figure of Christ in Majesty, His hand raised in blessing, surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists who recorded His life in the Gospels. The awkward proportions of this figure suggest it may not be original to the cross, while the large knop typically found at the base of processional crosses (to facilitate carrying them) is missing.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Wood and silver-gilt, embossed, chased, cast and enamelled
Brief description
Silver-gilt and silver on a wooden core, set with engraved and gilded plaques originally also coloured with translucent enamel. The silver strips on the sides of the cross are a later restoration; later gilding on some of the silver plaques.
Physical description
Wooden foundation covered with thin sheets of silver-gilt chased with a scroll of foliage, and with cast crocketed edging. At the end of each arm is an engraved quatrefoil plaque, formerly enriched with translucent enamel; where the arms intersect with the cross upright there are engraved square plaques. On the front of the cross, a cast applied silver-gilt figure of the crucified Christ; on the reverse a cast applied silver-gilt figure of Christ in Majesty.
Dimensions
  • Complete length of cross, including wooden section at base. does not include museum mount. length: 83.2cm
  • Maximum width width: 51cm
  • Approximate depth: 12.5cm
  • Weight: 4766.7g
Content description
There are 15 silver plaques set into the front and back of the cross. There are traces of enamelling on four of them: on the upper quatrefoil plaque on the front of the cross (depicting the Pelican in her piety), and on three plaques depicting the Evangelists on the reverse of the cross (St Mark, St Matthew and St Luke). The plaques on the arms and the uprights are of quatrefoil shape; the three set where the arms intersect with the upright (two on the front, one on the back) are square.
On the front of the cross, the plaques have the following scenes: at the top, the Pelican in Her Piety. On the upper arms, left to right, scenes before and during Christ's Passion: the Agony in the Garden, the Flagellation and the Resurrection. On the lower arms, left to right: the Mourning Virgin Mary, the Last Supper (behind the head of the crucified Christ) and St John, mourning. Below the feet of the crucified Christ: probably a donor figure, rather than Adam, rising from his tomb.
On the reverse of the cross, at the top of the upright, the Evangelis symbol of St John; at the foot of the cross, the Evangelist symbol of St Matthew. On the lower arms, left to right: Evangelist symbols of St Mark and St Luke. On the upper arms of the cross, left to right: scene of the Nativity, scene of the Pentecost, including the Virgin Mary (square plaque); the Adoration of the Magi.
There appears to be a sixteenth silver plaque, of square shape, set behind the figure of Christ in Majesty.
Marks and inscriptions
  • '+BARCK' (Punched on each of the silver-gilt plaques at the end of the arms and upright on the front of the cross. The plaques on the reverse of the cross are marked in the same place, and there is also a mark on the plaque on the upright, between the two rectangular silver plaques.)
  • 'JHS' (On a silver plaque affixed beneath the plaque depicting the Flagellation, on the front of the cross.)
    Translation
    Monogram of the name of Christ.
  • 'm'
    Translation
    On a quatrefoil plaque on the reverse of the cross. Presumably the first letter of 'Marcus', to identify the symbol of the winged lion with the Evangelist St Mark.
  • 'Mateu'
    Translation
    Inscription on the quatrefoil plaque on the reverse of the cross, at the base, identifying the winged figure with the Evangelist St Matthew.
  • 'luc'
    Translation
    Inscription on the quatrefoil plaque on the reverse of the cross, on the lower right arm, identifying the winged ox with the Evangelist St Luke.
  • Stamped on the base of the figure of Christ in Majesty applied to the back of the cross: In a rectangular-shaped punch, the figure of a weevil, French duty mark, 19th c.
Gallery label
This cross would have been attached to a pole or placed on the altar in a stand. Christ was central to every aspect of medieval life. His death for the sins of mankind became an image of salvation, of defeat and triumph symbolised by the cross with the Crucifixion shown on one side, and Christ in Majesty on the other. Silver Gallery label(26/11/2002)
Credit line
Dr W.L. Hildburgh Bequest
Object history
The hooded, robed, praying figure that emerges from his tomb to the blessing hand of God, engraved on the plaque beneath the Crucified Christ, may represent the donor or sponsors of the cross. Although a figure emerging from a coffin is a standard iconographical type in this context, and represents the resurrection of Adam, the First Man, it is more usual for him to be depicted naked, or throwing off his shroud.
The cross was almost certainly made for a cathedral, as in Spain only churches of this regional importance were authorised to use this double-armed processional type. At a later date, probably in the nineteenth century, the figures of the Crucified Christ and Christ in Majesty were applied (the Christ in Majesty covers a missing central plaque). The quatrilobed plaque of St Matthew, above the Crucified Christ, is a nineteenth-century replacement and incorrectly duplicates the medieval plaque of St Matthew at the foot of the cross (the replacement should have depicted St John). The plaque above the Crucified Christ, engraved 'JHS', has been crudely soldered to the edge of one of the gilded strips of metal covering the cross. The cross was bought in London in 1915 by the collector Walter Leo Hildburgh, and entered the V&A in 1956 after his death as part of his bequest to the Museum.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is a rare surviving example of a double-armed processional cross from early-fifteenth-century Barcelona. Its special form indicates it was made for a cathedral, the church which contains the official seat of the bishop in a diocese. The engraved silver plaques would originally have been enamelled with bright, translucent colours. On the front of the cross, scenes of Christ's final hours and of His Resurrection are arranged above the cast and applied figure of the crucified Christ. The plaque at the top of the cross which depicts a pelican plucking at its breast is symbolic of Jesus's sacrifice. On the back of the cross is the cast and applied figure of Christ in Majesty, His hand raised in blessing, surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists who recorded His life in the Gospels. The awkward proportions of this figure suggest it may not be original to the cross, while the large knop typically found at the base of processional crosses (to facilitate carrying them) is missing.
Bibliographic references
  • Oman, Charles. The Golden Age of Hispanic Silver, 1400-1665. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968.
  • Die Ausstellung Europäische Kunst um 1400: achte Ausstellung unter den Auspizien des Europarates. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 1962. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 7 May to 31 July, 1962.
  • Dalmases, Núria de and Daniel Giralt-Miracle. Plateros y joyeros de Cataluña. Barcelona: Ediciones Destino, 1985. ISBN 8423314359.
  • Dalmases, Núria de. Orfebreria catalana medieval: Barcelona 1300-1500 (aproximació a l'estudi). 2 vols. Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1992. ISBN 8472832171 (set)
  • Cruz Valdovinos, José Manuel. La función de las artes suntuarias en las catedrales: ritos, ceremonias y espacios de devoción. In: Las catedrales españolas en la Edad Moderna, ed. M. A. Castillo, Colección Debates sobre Arte. Encuentros sobre Patrimonio, 12. Madrid: Fundación BBVA / Antonio Machado Libros, 2001, pp. 149-68.
  • Réau, Louis. Iconographie de l'art chrétien. 3 vols. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1955-59.
  • Esteras Martín, Cristina. El punzón de platería de Barcelona: su evolución formal y cronológica (siglos XIV al XX). Archivo Español de Arte, 1979, vol. 208, pp. 425-35.
  • Kennedy, Kirstin. Catalogue Entry. In: Rafael Cornudella, ed., Cataluña 1400: El Gótico Internacional. Published to accompany the exhibition held 29 March - 15 July 2012 at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Barcelona: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, 2012. ISBN: 9788480432498
Collection
Accession number
M.500-1956

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Record createdFebruary 9, 2004
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