Collections: European Art: Double-Sided Processional Cross

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Double-Sided Processional Cross

This crucifix is now on a base, but the fact that it has an image on both sides indicates that it must originally have been attached to a pole and used in ecclesiastical ceremonies. Though Christ is represented bleeding and on the Cross on both sides, he is still alive in the scene where Mary Magdalene prostrates herself at his feet (his undamaged left eye is open), while the other side depicts him after death (both his eyes are closed and the pelican above symbolizes his final sacrifice). We know of only two other surviving fourteenth-century examples that include Christ both before and after his death on the Cross: one at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.


• Artist: Master of Monte del Lago, Italian, School of Umbria, second quarter of the 14th century
• Medium: Tempera and gold on panel
• Place Made: Umbria, Italy
• Dates: 2nd quarter of the 14th century
• Dimensions: 39 1/16 x 16 9/16 x 4 5/8 in. (99.2 x 42.1 x 11.7 cm)
• Collections: European Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 34.845
• Credit Line: Gift of Mary Babbott Ladd, Lydia Babbott Stokes, and Frank L. Babbott, Jr. in memory of their father Frank L. Babbott
• Image: Overall, 34.845_side1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Master of Monte del Lago (Italian, School of Umbria, second quarter of the 14th century). Double-Sided Processional Cross, 2nd quarter of the 14th century. Tempera and gold on panel, 39 1/16 x 16 9/16 x 4 5/8 in. (99.2 x 42.1 x 11.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mary Babbott Ladd, Lydia Babbott Stokes, and Frank L. Babbott, Jr. in memory of their father Frank L. Babbott, 34.845 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.845_side1.jpg)