The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kansas City, Missouri

Processional Cross early 16th century silver and parcel gilt Spanish (Andalucian) This spectacular processional cross was commissioned by Sebastian de Vaquera (now spelled Vaqueria) and his wife, Ana Hernandez, for the church of Santa Maria Consolacion in the provincial town of Azuaga in the modern day province of Extremadura. They made a gift of such magnificence in exchange for the regular recitation of prayers on behalf of their souls (the Pater Noster and Ave Maria are specifically mentioned. Such a cross was mounted atop a pole and carried in stately processions at the beginning and conclusion of the Mass. The wooden carcass sheathed with silver, displays numerous figures and much ornamentation fashioned in repose: the technique of "pushing out" forms, nearly in three dimensions, from behind. The obverse, which you are now facing, features the crucified Christ and mourners at the Crucifixion — the Virgin Mary, Saint John, Mary Magdalene — along with subsidiary roundels framing half-length representations of Old Testaments prophets who foretold the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Directly above Christ's head, emblematic of his own sacrifice, a pelican feeds its young with its own blood. On the reverse, a majestic God the Father is surrounded, in the quatrefoils, by the four Evangelists of the Gospels while the roundels, once again, are reserved for those who prophesied the coming of Christ. The image in the lowest roundel, not identified as a prophet, may be a "portrait- of the donor. Purchase: Nelson Trust 141-6]