Processional Cross
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Revered among Eastern Christians, Saint Sabas (439–532) led a great monastic movement: at the still-extant monastery he founded near Jerusalem, monks lived in solitude during the week but came together for services and provisions at week’s end. This cross is a celebration of the rich tradition of desert monasticism: Saint Sabas’s portrait is in the center of the reverse side, and the saints on the arms are other holy monks of the region.
Artwork Details
- Title: Processional Cross
- Date: ca. 1050
- Geography: Made in Byzantium
- Culture: Byzantine
- Medium: Silver gilt and niello
- Dimensions: 12 3/4 × 17 5/8 × 2 1/4 in. (32.4 × 44.8 × 5.7 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork-Silver
- Credit Line: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna. Jr. Fund, 1970.36
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters