1 / 2

download image
This image is in the public domain. You can copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Learn more about our image policies.

Attributed to Saracchi Workshop (foot); Western European 19th Century (cross and its mounts)

Altar Cross, c. 1590 (foot); mid to late 19th century (cross and its mounts)

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 27

Medium

rock crystal, enameled gold, 3 beryls, 46 spinels, and 11 emeralds

Dimensions

overall: 44.9 x 15.2 cm (17 11/16 x 6 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.294

Artists / Makers

Saracchi Workshop (artist) Italian, active 16th century

Western European 19th Century (artist)

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Provenance

Possibly Pope Paul V [Camillo Borghese, 1550-1621], Rome.[1] Stefano Bardini [1836-1922]; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 5 June 1899, no. 175, bought in); (Bardini sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27-30 May 1902, no. 108); Brawes.[2] Charles Mannheim [1893-1910], Paris. (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 28 October 1911 to Peter A.B. Widener [1834-1915], Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] According to the 1899 and 1902 Christie's catalogues, the cross stayed in the pope's family until purchased by Bardini.

[2] The results of the 1899 and 1902 Bardini sales were kindly provided by Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie's Archives, in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Bardini, Stefano
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Mannheim, Charles
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Bibliography

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 39.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 10.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 168.