Pacifical - Styles and Influences
- Text
-
416
Pacifical
Cross: Milan; ca. 1570
(base: 2nd half 19th c.)
The rock crystal altar cross or pacifical is a perfect example of the ideal beauty of the Italian Renaissance expressed in one of the most complicated techniques of cutting and engraving a material in which, owing to its hardness, it is notoriously difficult to show details. The style and technique of engraving are known as intaglio. It is close to the art of engraving gem stones which enjoyed a revival as part of the general humanistic rediscovery of Classical times.