Pax with the Crucifixion

Unknown

ca. 1360–70 · Ivory and copper gilt · The Cloisters

The pax, meaning "peace," was a tablet that the priest and faithful kissed before taking Communion. This example depicts the Crucifixion with the Virgin, St. John, Longinus, and Stephaton. A sword, placed like a stream of blood flowing from Christ's wound, pierces Mary's breast. This iconographic motif developed out of meditations of Rhenish Dominican mystics on the sorrow of the Virgin at the death of her son. The copper-gilt frame was probably added in the late 15th century.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1360–70

Medium

Ivory and copper gilt

Culture

South German

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 1970