Title

Reliquary Crucifix

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Inscriptions / Marks

Engraved, appearing down the top of the cross: "IH[SU]S / N[AZARENUS] / R[EX] / I[UDAEORUM]" (Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews)

Object history

Ángela Franco Mata has recently asserted that this ivory piece originated in León. In fact, the work has been the subject of a long process of study, during which various hypotheses have been put forward over the years, ever since the sculpture entered The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1917, coming from the collection of the banker and collector John Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913). Numerous researchers have taken part in the academic debate surrounding this piece, leading up to the most recent hypothesis, proposed by Franco Mata, an expert in medieval León sculpture, who has attributed it to a León workshop (Franco Mata, 2025).

Goldschmidt considered this sculpture from the Morgan collection to be a Spanish work typical of the late Romanesque period, and pointed out its similarities to an Italian example from the Cathedral of Todi that was at that time housed in the Stoclet Collection in Brussels (Goldschmidt, 1926). This hypothesis was endorsed by other scholars such as Porter (Porter, 1923) and Ferrandis, although the latter believed the work had more Germanic roots (Ferrandis, 1928). María Cali later found similarities between this ivory piece and another, in this case preserved in the Cathedral of Canosa; the author therefore suspected that there might have been a workshop influenced by Spanish ivory carving (Cali, 1965). It was Gaborit-Chopin who later concluded that the Canosa crucifix was likely the work of a Spanish workshop that must have been active until 1100 (Gaborit-Chopin, 1978). Margarita Estella corroborated this northern Spanish origin by including this crucifix in her study of Spanish Romanesque ivory carving (Estella, 1984). 

More recently, Franco Mata has revisited the subject, seeking to further refine the specific provenance of this piece, attributing it to a workshop in León. He bases this hypothesis on stylistic similarities with a marble plaque from San Isidoro de León (now missing), which featured a relief of a Calvary consisting of the three figures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and Saint John. This reliefCalvary, on which the researcher bases her hypothesis, came from the Collegiate Church of San Isidoro de León and was part of the Torbado Collection (León) (Franco Mata, 2025). It was photographed by Moreno as part of that collection, which is why we have a photograph of this work. The photograph is preserved in the archives of this photography studio, which are currently held by the Spanish Institute of Cultural Heritage.

Juan Crisóstomo Torbado (1867–1947), a native of Galleguillos de Campos, a district of Sahagún (León), during his time as a diocesan architect, worked—among other projects—on the restoration of the Royal Collegiate Church of San Isidoro in León, a task in which he was succeeded by his son Juan Torbado Franco (Pérez Gil, 2013). According to the notes of Manuel Gómez-Moreno, during the time he spent in León working on the *Catálogo Monumental de la provincia de León* ( 1906–1908), Torbado had considerable freedom to act as he pleased at San Isidoro de León: “Since Torbado is in charge there, I hope to have more freedom than last time,” Gómez-Moreno noted in a letter to his wife, Elena, dated in León on July 29, 1908. According to another letter from the historian to his wife, dated July 5–6, 1908, in Sahagún (León), he visited Sahagún (León), where he met other members of the Torbado family; and at one of their homes he was “looking at some antique items he has”; he even notes: “Since he has that threshing machine factory up and running, and many of them might perhaps be sold there if the venture takes off—and since I have offered to act as his intermediary, I have no qualms about accepting his sincere and frank offers” (Lorenzo and Pérez Martin, vol. II, pp. 764, 765, and 772). The truth is that the architect who restored San Isidoro went on to build an interesting art collection and also developed a close friendship with Gómez-Moreno. From that context within the Torbado family, various works of art (not threshing machines) originating from León found their way onto the international market. Could this piece be one of them? It is difficult to know for certain without further information on the matter, as J. P. Morgan was a voracious collector who acquired works from various parts of the world through multiple agents. 

Description

The ivory figure of Christ has two recesses in its back, spaces that were originally intended to hold relics. The cross, for its part, features beautiful niello decoration, similar to other works of goldsmithing typical of the workshops in León during this period. 

Locations

• Unknown date

  province

  Province of León, León (Spain)

• 1917

  private collection

  John Pierpont Morgan, New York (United States) *

• 1917 - present

  museum

  The Cloisters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (United States)