A SILVER AND SILVER-GILT-MOUNTED ROCK CRYSTAL CROSS
拍品 158THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 

A SILVER AND SILVER-GILT-MOUNTED ROCK CRYSTAL CROSS

SOUTH GERMAN, PROBABLY AUGSBURG, CIRCA 1600-1630

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GBP 26,290

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A SILVER AND SILVER-GILT-MOUNTED ROCK CRYSTAL CROSS
South German, probably Augsburg, circa 1600-1630
The cross formed of carved rock crystal sections with silver-gilt mounts all on metal rod supports; the terminals decorated with silver bouquets of flowers; with silver-gilt figures of the Virgin and St. John in mourning; set on a diamond-shaped, ebonised wood base with silver and silver-gilt mounts; the lower band of acanthus leaves with two roundels, one inscribed with a cross, the initials 'I.M.D' and a heart pierced by an arrow; the other with the Lamb of God resting on the Bible; the reverse with a silver plaque inscribed in Latin: 'LIBERALITATE.TVM.PRAEFECTI.SODALI TATIS.SERENISSIMI.ET. REVERENDISSIMI.MAXI MILIANI.HENRICI.VTRIVSQVE.BAVARIAE.DVCIS TVM. SODALIVM.QVORVMDAM.ALIORVM.'.
Losses; minor damages; elements possibly associated.
30½ in. (77.5 cm.) high, the cross
39½ in. (100.2 cm.) high, overall

專家說明

The inscription on the reverse of this crucifix (which can be translated roughly as 'Out of the generosity of the most Serene and most Reverend Maximilian Henry, Duke of both Bavarias, Prefect of the Religious Brotherhood and various others of this Brotherhood') appears to suggest that it was a gift from Maximilian I of Bavaria. Maximilian, one of the great figures of the Thirty Years War, was Duke of Bavaria from 1598, and Elector from 1623. His subjugation of Donauwörth, a free city, was the catalyst for the creation of the Protestant Union in 1609. Maximilian was, himself, the guiding force of the Catholic League which rose in opposition to the coalition of protestant princes.

Apart from his politic and military exploits, Maximilian was a great Catholic patron, founding five Jesuit colleges, nine Franciscan and fourteen Capuchin monasteries, as well as donating generously to other causes. The present cross could well have been a donation to one of the many institutions he had founded.