The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Medallion with the Bust of Christ ("The Cumberland Medallion"), from the Guelph Treasure

late 700s

Germany, Weserraum, Migration period, late 8th century

cloisonné enamel and gold on copper
Diameter: 5.1 x 0.2 cm (2 x 1/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.504
Location: 106A Migration Period & Coptic

Description

This medallion may have originally served as a sacerdotal brooch and is the earliest object from the Guelph Treasure, the ecclesiastical treasure of Germany’s Braunschweig (Brunswick) Cathedral.
  • House of Brunswick-Lüneburg; (Goldschmidt Galleries, New York).
  • New York, Goldschmidt and Reinhardt Galleries: "The Guelph Treasure," p. 36, no. 2; pl. 3
    W. M. M. “The Acquisition of Six Objects from the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art: Foreword.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 9 (November 1930): 163–165. Mentioned: p. 163-165 www.jstor.org
    W. M. M. “The Acquisition of Six Objects from the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 9 (November 1930): 165–178, 183. Mentioned: p. 175-176; Reproduced: p. 174 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition: June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936. p. 15, no. 5.
    Baltimore, The Baltimore Msueum of Art: "Early Christian and Byzantine Art" April 24-June 24, 1947 cat. no. 522, LXIX.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 90 archive.org
    Karl der Grosse: Werk und Wirkung. Aachen, Rathaus and Kreuzgang des Domes (June 26–September 19, 1965) no. 125, p. 100.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 44 archive.org
    Wixom, William D. Treasures from Medieval France. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Reproduced: p. 13; mentioned: p. 14; fig. 1 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 44 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 48 archive.org
    Winter, Patrick M. de. “The Sacral Treasure of the Guelphs.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 1 (March 1985): 2–160. Mentioned: p. 133; Reproduced: p. 12, plate IV www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 114-115, no. 35
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Treasures of Medieval France. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1966-January 29, 1967).
    Charlemagne. Hisotorical town hall, cathedral and cloister, Aachen, Germany (June 26-September 19, 1965).
    Karl der Grosse: Werk und Wirkung. Aachen, Rathaus and Kreuzgang des Domes (June 26–September 19, 1965)
    Jewelry Techniques Past and Present. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 3-April 4, 1956).
    Exhibition of the Month: Components of Art: The Line. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 12, 1948).
    Early Christian and Byzantine Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (April 24–June 24, 1947)
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    The Guelph Treasure. Goldschmidt and Reinhardt Galleries, New York
    Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt-am-Main (1930).
    Deutsche Gesellschaft, Berlin (1930).
    Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie, Vienna (1869).
  • {{cite web|title=Medallion with the Bust of Christ ("The Cumberland Medallion"), from the Guelph Treasure|url=false|author=|year=late 700s|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.504