A GOLD AND ENAMEL RELIQUARY CROSS

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Details

A GOLD AND ENAMEL RELIQUARY CROSS
RUSSIAN (MOSCOW), 17TH CENTURY
The obverse made of painted enamel, depicting the Crucifix against the buildings of Jerusalem and cloudy skies, the reverse engraved with inscriptions, each identifying one of the contained relics, the interior divided into six compartments, each including a relic
1 5/8 x 7/8 in. (4.25 x 2.25 cm)

Engraved

The inscriptions on the reverse testify that relics from the following are included inside the cross: St. Lazar, Evangelist Mathei, St. Theodore Stratilate, St. Ephrem Syrian, St. Nil Stolbenski, a fragment from the Mount of Golgotha

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg possesses a similar reliquary cross, which once belonged to the Winter Palace (see image). The obverse of the Hermitage cross is directly comparable to this lot, not only in terms of iconography, but also of their use of a distinctive purplish-pinkish colour. The Hermitage cross is published in the catalogue of the exhibition Sinai, Byzantium, Russia, (London, 2000), cat.no. R-70.

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