Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Cross on a Pyx
Not on view
The form of this object is unique, making its function difficult to discern. A crucifix with a typically Romanesque Christ, upright and seemingly weightless, stands upon a container shaped like a building and resting on a lion’s paws. The container has been interpreted to be a pyx, or receptacle for the host (Eucharistic wafer), to be used for the Holy Communion of the sick. The object additionally may have served as an altar cross.