The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 10, 2025

Quatrilobed Plaque (pair): The Annunciation and The Descent from the Cross

c. 1350–1400

Spain, Catalonia?, 14th century

translucent enamel (basse-taille) on silver
Overall: 8.3 x 8.3 cm (3 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance 1922.312
Location: 110B Late Gothic

Description

These plaques were probably originally placed at the end of the arms of a processional cross. They are decorated in an enameling technique called basse-taille in which colorful translucent enamel pastes are fused over an engraved and chased silver plaque.
  • Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • “Gothic Art 1360-1440.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50, no. 7 (September 1963): 174–215. Mentioned: p. 205, no. 36; Reproduced: p. 174-175 www.jstor.org
    Richter, Rainer. "Between Original and Imitation: Four Technical Studies in Basse-Taille Enameling and Re-Enameling of the Historicism Period." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 7 (1994): 222-51. Reproduced: p. 224, 235-37; Mentioned: p. 222-51 www.jstor.org
  • When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).
    Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
  • {{cite web|title=Quatrilobed Plaque (pair): The Annunciation and The Descent from the Cross|url=false|author=|year=c. 1350–1400|access-date=10 November 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1922.312