c. 1500

Processional Cross

Artist/maker unknown

This is a rare example of a devotional object once common in English parish churches. This multi-part cross was multi-purpose, designed to sit on an altar in a holder that could also fit onto a staff for church rituals and processions. During the separation of the Church of England from Rome (a historical event known as the Reformation), devotional objects like these were suppressed; some surviving examples of the type are rediscoveries, having been hidden as acts of resistance. Although it has been estimated that thousands of examples once existed in pre-Reformation England, only about forty are now known.

The cross was likely made in a specialist brass workers’ shop in London, and while the base metal used for the cross is less precious and elaborate than the silver and gold crosses often associated with church treasuries, the gilding and painting on the surface suggest the effect of costly enameled gold. The treatment of the figures and decoration can be compared to contemporary popular devotional woodcuts.