Coptic Cross Made Of Embossed Silver Foil. Second Half Of The 14th Century

A superb Coptic cross, made of chiseled and engraved silver foil andhighlighted with gold. It features interesting medieval iconography, with Christ depicted withdistinctly African features, holding the Holy Scroll in his hand. Atthe ends of the cross, on each of the four arms, are figures carved in reliefrepresenting Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The structure, made of thick, shaped sheet metal, suggeststhat the cross was originally set into the woodencover of a Gospel book. Most likely in the late nineteenth century, thecross was skillfully mounted on a wooden supportThe iconography of both Christ and the Apostles, as well as the angels surroundingChrist are considerably more archaic than the form of thecross structure itself, but the ovalized cross heads with pointed corners allow us todate the object to the second half of the 14th century. 29 x 23 cm