Portable Altar from the Roman Era - Cleveland Museum of Art

Portable Altar from the Roman Era - Cleveland Museum of Art

It is an 11th century Romanesque art piece, produced around 1045, possibly from Lower Saxony, Germany. Made of precious materials such as gold, enamel, porphyry, gemstones, pearls, black lacquer, and wood cores, it is collected at the Cleveland Museum of Art and is a gift from the John Huntington Institute of Art and Technology Trust Fund. It was commissioned by Countess Gertrude to commemorate her husband, Count Leopold, shortly after his death. There are four apostles worshiping the cross on the front, seven apostles on each side, and five apostles at the back. There is also a mechanism at the bottom to open and store items.