[6] Christ wears a tubular and long-sleeved tunic and is given a mask-like face reminiscent of earlier La Tène art,[8] and, unusually, is without a beard.

[1][11] Two attendant angels hover above his arms to his immediate left and right, and representations of the Roman soldiers Stephaton (the sponge-bearer) and Longinus (the lance-bearer) at his feet.

[11] The unadorned reverse and many rivets or nail holes on the outer borders indicate that it was built as an attachment to a larger metal or wooden object.

Thus most art historians conclude that it likely had a secondary function, but it is unknown as to what the precise intention was; likely such plaques adorned book covers, stone altar frontals or wooden crosses.

[1][12][13] The art historian Peter Harbison, who in 1980 first described the surviving crucifixion plaques as a group,[14] favors pax-plates, noting that many show wear around Christ's head, indicating that they may have been passed around to be kissed during masses.