1991.352.40 Processional cross | DMA Staging Content Management System

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Processional crosses have been in use in Ethiopia since at least the 12th century. They are commonly made of bronze, or less commonly, of iron or silver, and cast by the lost-wax process. In the Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy, processional crosses play a fundamental role: during worship, priests use the crosses, mounted on poles, to bless the congregation, the baptismal water, the sacraments, and the four corners of the church. When taken out of the church and carried in religious processions, their pierced designs create dramatic silhouettes against the sky.

This brass processional cross features a pattée cross—a cross with arms of equal length—at its center. A tau cross (shaped like a T) under a double arch is attached to each of the horizontal and upper arms of this pattée cross, whereas the lower arm is covered by the shaft. It is unclear whether this motif, which has been linked to the window patterns of some Ethiopian churches, can also be interpreted as an abstraction of the wings of the Four Beasts which surround the cross in some 15th-century examples. The central pattée cross is enclosed in a quatrefoil frame, which, in turn, is placed inside a diamond-shaped frame. The edges of this latter frame function as the base of seven closed pattée crosses. These are joined together by pierced quatrefoil elements and topped by pierced trefoil finials. As noted by Di Salvo (2006: 63), similar finals can be seen on the hand cross held by Saint Gäbrä Mänfäs Qǝddus in the church of Peter and Paul north of Wuqro, in northern Ethiopia.

This work, which can be tentatively dated to the 18th century, belongs to a group of crosses which have been variously dated to a period between the late 17th and 19th centuries and are surprisingly uniform in style. To judge on the large number of surviving examples, crosses in this form were produced in large numbers. Indeed, numerous closely related examples have found their way into museum collections, such as that of the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Peabody Museum, the Addis Ababa University Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and the Portland Art Museum.

Adapted from

Jacopo Gnisci, "Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview," African Arts 51, no. 4 (Winter 2018): 48–55.
Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 264-266.
C. Griffith Mann, "The Role of the Cross in Ethiopian Culture," in Ethiopian Art: the Walters Art Museum, ed. Deborah E. Horowitz (Surrey: Third Millennium Publishing, 2001), 75.
Csilla Fabo Perczel, "Art and Liturgy: Abyssinian Processional Crosses," Northeast African Studies 5.1 (1983): 19-28.

NOTES

Processional crosses: 1991.352.3, 1991.352.30, 1991.352.43, 1991.352.39

TMS work needed

Catalogue essays

Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview

African Art and the Influences of Foreign Trade

African Art in Context

Artists in Traditional African Art

African Art at the DMA: A Brief History

Christianity in Africa

Christianity

Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Liturgy

Crosses as symbols in Ethiopian Christianity

Ethiopian Processional Crosses

Ethiopia

lost-wax process

Artist/designers

Cultures

Abyssinian (African styles and periods by national designation): AAT: 300312134

Ethiopian Orthodox (Oriental Orthodox): TAA: 300262472

Geography

Ethiopia (nation): TGN: 7000489

Process/materials

bronze: AAT: 300010957

incising: AAT: 300053847

Lost-wax process: AAT: 300053113

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

apotropaic: DMA

Christianity: AAT: 300073711

crosses (motifs): AAT: 300010044

crosses (visual works): AAT: 300235443

religious objects: AAT: 300234098

priests: AAT: 300025774

finials: AAT: 300002280

masses (eucharists): AAT:300379721

Greek crosses (motifs): AAT: 300010071

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

By at least 1966: Dr. Kenneth Redden (d. 1998), Charlottesville, Virginia [1]

From 1991: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Hebe Redden and Dr. Kenneth Redden

The main source for this provenance is Roslyn A. Walker, The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009), 266. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[1] Jacopo Gnisci, "Crosses from Ethiopia at the Dallas Museum of Art: An Overview," DMA Unpublished material, 1. (Copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Record Object File). Gnisci's research shows that Dr. Kenneth Redden and Dr. Hebe Redden were listed as lenders of three Ethiopian crosses for a 1966 exhibition organized by the Musée Dynamique in Dakar and the Grand Palais in Paris.

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

188990822: UMO

Processional crosses in use during Timkat (Epiphany) festival, Lalibela, Ethiopia, 1999.

WEB RESOURCES

The Metropolitan Museum of Art~Read more about Ethiopian processional crosses.
YouTube (Associated Press Archive)~See processional crosses in use during Timkat (Epiphany) celebrations in Gondor, Ethiopia.

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 1991.352.40

General Description

Processional crosses have been in use in Ethiopia since at least the 12th century. They are commonly made of bronze, or less commonly, of iron or silver, and cast by the lost-wax process. In the Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy, processional crosses play a fundamental role: during worship, priests use the crosses, mounted on poles, to bless the congregation, the baptismal water, the sacraments, and the four corners of the church. When taken out of the church and carried in religious processions, their pierced designs create dramatic silhouettes against the sky.

This brass processional cross features a pattée cross—a cross with arms of equal length—at its center. A tau cross (shaped like a T) under a double arch is attached to each of the horizontal and upper arms of this pattée cross, whereas the lower arm is covered by the shaft. It is unclear whether this motif, which has been linked to the window patterns of some Ethiopian churches, can also be interpreted as an abstraction of the wings of the Four Beasts which surround the cross in some 15th-century examples. The central pattée cross is enclosed in a quatrefoil frame, which, in turn, is placed inside a diamond-shaped frame. The edges of this latter frame function as the base of seven closed pattée crosses. These are joined together by pierced quatrefoil elements and topped by pierced trefoil finials. As noted by Di Salvo (2006: 63), similar finals can be seen on the hand cross held by Saint Gäbrä Mänfäs Qǝddus in the church of Peter and Paul north of Wuqro, in northern Ethiopia.

This work, which can be tentatively dated to the 18th century, belongs to a group of crosses which have been variously dated to a period between the late 17th and 19th centuries and are surprisingly uniform in style. To judge on the large number of surviving examples, crosses in this form were produced in large numbers. Indeed, numerous closely related examples have found their way into museum collections, such as that of the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Peabody Museum, the Addis Ababa University Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and the Portland Art Museum.