Cloisters Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cloisters Cross, also referred to as the "Bury St. Edmunds Cross," is a 12th century Romanesque altar cross decorated with ninety-two intricately carved figures and ninety-eight inscriptions. The figures, each of which is only about one-half inch tall, illustrate a number of Biblical scenes. Many of the inscriptions are anti-Semitic in nature. The Cross is carved from walrus ivory and measures 22 5/8 x 14 1/4 in. (57.5 x 36.2 cm).
The cross was acquired from Ante Topić Mimara by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1963 and currently is exhibited at The Cloisters.
The sculptor is not known. Thomas Hoving, who managed the acquisition of the cross while he was Associate Curator at The Cloisters, concluded that it was carved by Master Hugo at the Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk. However, there is no certain evidence to suggest that the cross was even made in England, although this is accepted by most scholars, and other places of origin such as Germany have been proposed.
[edit] External links
- Picture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art website
- Cross of Shame
- The Cloisters Cross with another view
- The Cloisters Cross: Its Art and Meaning
[edit] Literature
- Thomas Hoving, King of the Confessors. Simon & Schuster. New York, New York: 1981.
- Thomas Hoving, King of the Confessors: A New Appraisal. cybereditions.com. Christchurch, New Zealand: 2001.
