Cross and Chain
This gilt metal chain and silver cross was worn by Sir Henry Irving as Cardinal Richelieu in the play ‘Richelieu’ at the Lyceum Theatre in 1892.
Written in 1839 by Edward Bulwer Lytton (1803-1873), the play is set in seventeenth century France where Cardinal Richelieu was the chief minister to King Louis XIII. The play is a complex tale of political intrigue, power brokering and a love affair, and is the source of the saying ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’.
