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Collections

Attributed to Pedro Hernández Atenciano
Altar Cross (Cruz de altar)circa 1560

Not on view
Gilt metal altar cross with ivory or bone figural reliefs, Gothic arcade base, and lobed foot, decorated overall with foliate ornament and circular medallions
Gilt silver processional cross mounted on an elaborate stem and lobed base, with relief medallions at each arm and center, foliate openwork edging, and a cylindrical knop decorated with figured panels in architectural arcades.
Artist or Maker
Attributed to Pedro Hernández Atenciano
Spain, c. 1510–1584, active Guatemala and Peru
Title
Altar Cross (Cruz de altar)
Place Made
Guatemala, Antigua
Date Made
circa 1560
Medium
Silver gilt, cast and chased
Dimensions
15 1/2 × 7 in. (39.4 × 17.8 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund, the Decorative Arts Deaccession Fund, and Jan and Frederick R. Mayer
Accession Number
M.2006.117a-b
Classification
Sculpture
Collecting Area
Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes

This portable altar cross from Guatemala is associated with the Dominicans, one of the three religious orders that evangelized the vast territory of Mesoamerica in the sixteenth century. Their conventual churches were appointed with prescribed silver liturgical objects, primarily created by artists from Spain. This profusely ornamented cross, depicting saints associated with the order and traditional biblical subjects, would have been placed on the altar during Mass.


From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Cristina Esteras Martín in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 14, pp. 96–99)

Provenance
Paul d’Almeida, Europe, 20th century; by inheritance to his grandchild, Europe; Sotheby’s, London, July 7, 2006, lot 56; LACMA, 2006.
Selected Bibliography
  • Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
  • Esteras, Cristina. “De México y Guatemala: Nuevas obras para la historia de su platería (siglos XVI y XVII).” In El Dorado: Estudios sobre la plata iberoamericana, siglos XVI–XIX, editd by Jesús Paniagua Pérez, Nuria Salazar Simarro, and Moisés Gámez. 201–17. León, Spain: Universidad de León; Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2012.
Selected Exhibition History
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024