This cross is intricately carved throughout, with a multi-tiered base that depicts forty-eight scenes from the Old Testament surrounded by varying architectural forms. Within the cross itself are depictions of related scenes of the life of Christ bordered by vines and other nature motifs. This cross was used in church service when the clergy blessed the faithful.

The hand-carved design of this cross echo that of earlier Byzantine ivories. Though this piece is made over a hundred years after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, it shows that some of the artistic traditions continued in its former boarders long after.

—Jay DaCruz

Catalogue Record, Metropolitan Museum of Art