Reliquary of the True Cross
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
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Saints & Martyrs | Relics & Reliquaries | Shrines & Places
Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe
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Culture: Byzantine (Constantinople?)
Date: 9th century (possibly
second quarter)
Material: Gold, silver, silver gilt, enamel (cloisonné), niello
Dimensions: Overall (with lid) 2.7 × 10.3 × 7.1 cm
Inscribed: (after T. Matthews in New York 1997) at the center top, in the titulus: ΙΣ ( Jesus); at either side of Christ's head: ΙΔΙ • Ω • ΥΩΣ • ΣΟΥ • ΙΔΟΥ • Η • ΜΙΤΙΡ • Σ (Here is your son. ... Here is your mother [John 19:26–27] ); alongside the Virgin: ΘΕΩΤΩΚΣ (Mother of God); alongside John: ΗΩΑΝΙΣ (John); on the border, clockwise from upper left: Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΔΗΜΙΤΡΙΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΕΥΣΤΑΘΙΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΛΑΥΡΕΝΤΙΟΣ • ΛΟΥΚΑΣ • ΜΑΡΚΟΣ • ΘΩΜΑΣ • ΙΑΚΟΒΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΔΑΜΙΑΝΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΚΟΣΜΑΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΓΡΙΓΟΡΙΟΣ ΜΘΑΛ • ΒΑΡΘΟΛΟΜΕΟ • ΙΟΥΔΑΣ • ΣΗΜΩΝ (St. Demetrios, St. Eustathios, St. Lawrence, Luke, Mark, Thomas, James, St. Damian, St. Kosmas, St. Gregory the Miracle-Worker, Bartholomew, Matthew, Jude, Simon); around the sides, clockwise from upper left: Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΙΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΠΛΑΤΩΝ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΘΕΟΔΟΡΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΠΡΟΚΟΠΙΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΓΕΩΡΓΙΩΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΜΕΡΚΟΥΡΗΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΕΥΤΡΑΤΗΩΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ ΠΑΝΤΕΛΣΥΜΩΝ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ ΑΝΔΡΕΑ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΙΩΑΝΙΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΠΑΥΛΟΣ • Ο • ΑΓΙΟΣ • ΠΕΤΡΟΣ (St. Anastasios, St. Nicholas, St. Platon, St. Theodore, St. Prokopios, St. George, St. Merkourios, St. Eustratios, St. Panteleimon, St. Andrew, St. John, St. Paul, St. Peter); inside the lid: ΧΑΙΡΕΣ • ΧΑΡΙΤΟΜ (Hail, full of grace [ Luke 1:28] ), Η • ΓΕΝΑ (The Nativity), ΙΔΕ • Ο • ΥΟΣ • ΣΟΥ • ΙΔΟΥ • Η • ΜΗΡ • ΣΡ (Here is your son. ... Here is your mother [ John 19:26–27] )
Provenance: purportedly Pope Innocent IV (Sinibaldo Fieschi, wr. 1243–54) and descendants; Baron Albert Oppenheim, Cologne (until 1904); Jacques Seligmann, Paris and New York (until 1906); J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York (1906–17)