Shell Cross

Unknown

300–700 · Shell · Medieval Art

Large numbers of these modest crosses survive, many of them found in burials. Crosses were everywhere in the early Byzantine world. They marked religious, secular, and domestic buildings, public works, clothes and jewelry, and objects in the home. The cross was a sign of Christ's triumph over death and the hope of eternal life and was frequently ascribed apotropaic, or protective, powers by the faithful.

Artist

Unknown

Date

300–700

Medium

Shell

Culture

Byzantine

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917