CC0 · no rights reserved
Pyx
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The image of Christ’s crucifixion dominates this enameled box. Personifications of the Christian church, the Jewish faith, and the Virgin and Saint John flank the cross. Two Old Testament scenes--Abel’s sacrifice of sheep and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac--appear on either side. The box once served as a pyx, a container for the consecrated host, itself a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePyx, c. 1170–1180. Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim?, Romanesque period, enamels: 12th century; wood core: 19th century. Gilded copper, champlevé and cloisonné enamel, wood core (modern); overall: 5.4 x 21.3 x 9.3 cm (2 1/8 x 8 3/8 x 3 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and the Fanny Tewksbury King Collection by exchange, 1949.431
