Altar Cross with Stand

Unknown Artist

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.

Credit: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

1140-1150

Bronze: cast, gilded, engraved, and chased

43.4 x 22.5 x 8.0 cm

1944.320

Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2024