Collection record · Belief & ritual
Reliquary of the True Cross
The collection record classifies this work as metalwork. It is dated c. 1214. Recorded culture or place: Cross: Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem Panel: Rhine-Meuse region, Gothic period, 13th century.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Reliquary of the True Cross
- Date
- c. 1214
- Culture / origin
- Cross: Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem Panel: Rhine-Meuse region, Gothic period, 13th century
- Materials and technique
- silver, gilded silver, niello, precious stones, walnut core
- Dimensions
- Overall: 44 x 31 x 4.7 cm (17 5/16 x 12 3/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1952.89
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
A lengthy Latin inscription on the frame recounts the history of the central relic--a fragment of the True Cross--and provides an exact date for its container: "You who ask about the cross: read! The heir of Judas the priest/Stole it. But when, after boarding a ship,/He sought a mild breeze, a fierce storm opposed the sorry sailors./Out of his mind, he gnawed at his own hands./In the end the blessed Virgin spoke thus to him:/‘You shall soon be well, if you seek to return what was stolen.’/ He pays back this debt to the brothers of the Temple . . . When he died, they cast him overboard, and the storm subsided./Happy they arrive at Brindisi, quiet they have returned with the cross,/Which resides beautiful in this handsome panel. This tablet was created in the 1214th year from the Lord’s incarnation in the month of February."
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
Open the complete museum record View the open-access policyTHE VISITOR BOOK
What caught your eye?
Opening the visitor book…
