Cross thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Jewellery, Rooms 91 to 93 mezzanine, The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery

Cross

1750-1800 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

After the prolonged and destructive Thirty Years War of 1618–48, Europe split into a Catholic south and a Protestant north. Worshippers in Catholic countries often wore relics and images of saints or the Virgin and Child in the belief that they could help protect them against illness and the dangers of daily life.

This silver filigree cross, with its flamboyant twisting leaves, is typical of the kind made in Venice. Similar religious pendants were made in Dalmatia, on the east coast of the Adriatic. The raised compartment in the centre opens with a hinge and would originally have contained a relic or something else of religious value.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver filigree
Brief description
Silver filigree reliquary cross, Venice (Italy), 1750-1800.
Physical description
Silver filigree reliquary cross of rectangular shape, set in a frame of openwork filigree fronds.
Dimensions
  • Height: 9.6cm
  • Width: 6.2cm
  • Depth: 1.1cm
Object history
Bought from Dr Marco Guastalla for £2 on 16th April 1890
Subjects depicted
Summary
After the prolonged and destructive Thirty Years War of 1618–48, Europe split into a Catholic south and a Protestant north. Worshippers in Catholic countries often wore relics and images of saints or the Virgin and Child in the belief that they could help protect them against illness and the dangers of daily life.

This silver filigree cross, with its flamboyant twisting leaves, is typical of the kind made in Venice. Similar religious pendants were made in Dalmatia, on the east coast of the Adriatic. The raised compartment in the centre opens with a hinge and would originally have contained a relic or something else of religious value.
Collection
Accession number
338-1890

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Record createdJuly 31, 2006
Record URL
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