Cleveland Museum of Art

Plaque: The Crucifixion with Angels and Saints

Date

c. 1400–1425

Medium

verre églomisé (reverse gilded glass, engraved and painted)

Culture

Northern Italy, Padua?, 15th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Small glass plaques like this were often combined with plaques of painted wood and framed within elaborate architectural reliquaries or small altarpieces. The decorative technique, called verre églomisé, is a process in which the reverse side of a glass is gilded and then engraved with designs. The pelican, shown above the cross piercing its breast to feed its young, became a common symbol of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

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