Altar Cross with Stand
Unknown Artist
1140–1150
Medium
bronze: cast, gilded, engraved, and chased
Dimensions
43.4 × 22.5 × 8 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1944.320
About this artwork
From the 11th century onward, altar crosses like this one often featured elaborate bases. The most impressive decoration of this cross is its stand: a lavish array of intertwining scrolls emerges from three pawlike legs, while birds perch amid the scrolls and dragon heads sprout from others.