Reliquary Cross

Description This remarkable cross has an oblong cavity that is said to have held a relic from the Crown of Thorns. The transparent rock crystal allowed the sacred contents to be seen. The two enameled angels on the plaques on the front and back of the base directed the worshiper's attention to the relics by pointing upward towards the relic chamber.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
10/02/1962	Treatment	cleaned; coated

Exhibitions

• The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1962.
• Reliquaries and Ritual: Medieval Objects of Devotion. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984-1985.

Provenance Borghese; Sir Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael (Lord Carmichael) (1859-1926) [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Christie's, London, May 12, 1902, no. 88; Charles Borradaile, Brighton [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; George Robinson Harding, London [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1912