Ceremonial Cross of Count Liudolf
Unknown Artist
shortly after 1038
Medium
gold: worked in repoussé; cloisonné enamel; intaglio gems; pearls; wood core
Dimensions
24.2 × 21.6 cm · 29.5 × 21.6 × 3.8 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Accession Number
1931.461
About this artwork
This precious gold cross was commissioned by Countess Gertrude (died 1077) and given to the church of Saint Blaise following the death of her husband, Count Liudolf of Brunswick (died 1038). The cross is decorated with a large oval-shaped chalcedony at its center and with slightly smaller rock crystals at its terminal ends. Fine but fragmentary cloisonné enamel plaques with pairs of confronting peacocks, symbols of immortality, appear at the center of each cross arms. They are set within an intr...