Golden Madonna
The Golden Madonna is a figure of Mary from the Essen Cathedral Treasury . Dating from around 980, it is the oldest extant fully sculptural figure of the Virgin Mary in Western art. Alongside the Gero Cross in Cologne , it is one of the few remaining large Ottonian works of art. Today the figure of Mary is still a highly venerated cult image and a figure that identifies the Ruhr area with its history.
The name Golden Madonna only came up in the 19th century. In the old manuscripts such as the Essen Liber Ordinarius , a manuscript with liturgical instructions for the Essen women's monastery from around 1370, it was referred to as dat gulden bild onser vrouwen or ymago aurea beatae Mariae Virgine . The treasure register of the Essen monastery from 1626 mentions another large Marienbelt, sitting on a chair covered with pure gold . The use of the term “Madonna” illustrates the amazement of Romanticism before the creation of the Middle Ages , which was only listed under no. 32 in the monastery treasury register.
The statue
Date and place of origin
The gilded statue is dated to around 980. The Madonna was created during the reign of the Essen abbess Mathilde II (971-1011), who was a granddaughter of Emperor Otto the Great . Under Mathilde and her successors Sophia (1012-1039) and Theophanu (1039-1058), all of whom belonged to the Ottonian royal family, the Essen monastery , consecrated to the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary and the Saints Cosmas and Damian, experienced a heyday from which the most valuable works of art from the Essen Cathedral Treasury. The place of origin and the artist of the Golden Madonna are unknown; local tradition in Essen gives Cologne or Hildesheim as possible places of origin, where a Madonna figure that was made a little later has been preserved. Cologne is more likely. This is supported by stylistic similarities between the folds in the Madonna's robe and the apron on the body of the Otto Mathilden Cross dated 982 , which is also in the Essen Cathedral Treasury. This corpus is of the Cologne Gero cross type , so that the Otto Mathilden Cross and thus indirectly the Madonna of a Cologne goldsmith's workshop was ascribed. Due to the unequivocal origin of the emails of the Otto Mathilden Cross from the Trier Egbert workshop, however, the Cologne origin of the cross is questioned. The nimbus of the child and the nimbus of the Madonna itself, which had already been removed in the 11th century, were richly decorated with gold enamel, some of which were used as spolia on other pieces of the Essen cathedral treasury . These enamel tablets lack some of the characteristics of the Egbert workshop in Trier, but there is no evidence of a second enamel workshop in the empire and, due to the difficult-to-control technology involved in the manufacture of enamel, it is unlikely. The circle of possible places of manufacture of the Madonna has been expanded to include Trier as the likely place of manufacture of the enamels and food, where Abbess Mathilde, as the presumed client, could have exercised control over the manufacture.
Description of the sculpture
Mary is shown seated on a stool with a slightly oversized Christ sitting on her lap at right angles to her. She is dressed in a close-fitting, long-sleeved tunic and a coat in the form of a " Palla ". She wears a veil on her head, the ends of which are covered by the cloak. Your right hand holds up a ball with your thumb and two fingers. The child, who she supports with her left hand, wears priestly robes and a cross nimbus that was backed with a gold-plated silver plate as early as the Middle Ages. It presses a book on its chest with its left hand.
The statue of the Golden Madonna is 74 cm high, the base 27 cm wide. The core of the statue is carved from a single, still damp piece of wood, which, according to the latest restorers, is poplar wood . The art historian Georg Humann , who described the statue in detail in 1904, had assumed pear or plum wood for the wood core ; the goldsmith Classen, who restored it in 1950, still described it as limewood . Under the seat of the Madonna there is an empty cavity closed with a wooden grille, which may have temporarily contained relics. The golden sheen of the figure comes from the rolled out gold sheets with which the wooden core is covered. The individual gold plates are only a quarter of a millimeter thick. At their edges, they are attached to the core with thin gold pins and nails. The size of the plates varies, as the artist adapted them in size and shape to the figure, so the faces of Mary and the child are each carved from a single plate. The colored eyes of the Madonna and the child were created using the cell fusion process , whereby the eyes of the Madonna are inserted into caves prepared during the carving of the wooden core and those of the child are placed on the wooden core. The child's right hand was added later from cast silver in the 14th century ; the original right hand has been lost. On the ball that the Madonna holds in her right hand, on the back right leg of the stool, on the book held by the child and on the child's nimbus , remains of the original 10th century jewelry, which consisted of filigree, precious stones and enamel, are preserved . The stool was probably stripped of its decoration early on, it is assumed that the trans-enamel on the cross stem of the Theophanu Cross, dated around 1045, could have come from the stool of the Madonna. The eagle agraffe of the robe is an additional ingredient from the early 13th century. The Fürspan underneath with a seated Mother of God has Gothic shapes and is dated to the 14th century.
Restoration history and condition
In 1905 the statue was restored for the first time because it was infested with wood parasites. The figure was completely criss-crossed by feeding tunnels and threatened to collapse because the metal cladding cannot stand without the wooden core. To preserve it, the figure was carefully wrapped in a plaster coat, after which the figure was blown out with compressed air. Impregnation agent was then passed through the tunnels drilled by the pests. After they had dried, a mixture of glue, chalk and water was used to fill the tunnels drilled by the woodworm and the wood tick. During the entire procedure, the figure was turned and turned several times in order to fill as many cavities as possible. Finally, the channels drilled for the introduction of the mass were closed with wedges made of oak wood and the previously removed gold plates were fastened again. The cost of the renovation at that time was 3,200 gold marks , in which the state of Prussia contributed.
The Madonna suffered from transports during and after World War II; many gold sheets were loose, and new pests were found. A second restoration was therefore carried out in 1950 by the Essen goldsmith Classen. This first conducted pest-killing gas through the figure. Then he filled the pest ducts with "liquid wood", a plastic compound that was common for wood restoration at the time. During this restoration, a rectangular wooden plate was placed under the feet of the throne.
Both restorations were state-of-the-art at the time, but not optimal. It was not known exactly how the filling compound from 1905 or the "liquid wood" was composed, nor whether these agents reacted with one another. It was also unknown whether there were any cavities left in the figure. That is why the third restoration took place in 2004, for the implementation of which a restoration workshop was set up in the cathedral treasury so that the fragile figure would not have to be exposed to longer transport routes.
First, a thorough examination was carried out during which the condition was comprehensively documented. Among other things, X-ray examinations of the base were carried out, the cavity under the throne seat of the Madonna was examined by endoscopy , samples of the wood were examined, the remains of the pests found were determined and the covering of dirt and candle soot that had formed on the surface of the figure, as well Samples from the inside chemically analyzed. No living pests were found during the investigations, but the throne in particular had many hollow areas. More than 95 percent of the sheet gold cladding is still medieval, although the throne was probably replaced by inferior material in the 11th century. All fastening nails are modern and come from the restorations of 1904 and 1950 as well as repairs. It was recommended not to move the figure, if possible, and to keep it in a constant climate and free from vibrations.
Following the examinations, the wood on the throne and armchair was strengthened by the Cologne wood restorers Ria Röthinger and Michaela von Welck. The silversmith Peter Bolg freed the copper and gold sheets from the coating and polished the child's right hand, which was made of silver in the 14th century and which had been black sulfided over the centuries, to shine again. The conservation of the figure, which was accompanied by a commission of art historians, preservationists and restorers under the direction of the head of the cathedral treasury Birgitta Falk , lasted 10 months and was supported by donations from the Essen population, Essen companies, the Münsterbauverein and public funds. In December 2004 the Golden Madonna could be returned to its place in Essen Cathedral, a follow-up examination for the restoration took place on July 10th and 11th, 2006. The detailed restoration report has not yet been published.
history
Mentions in the Middle Ages
It is not known who transferred the golden figure to the Essen monastery, as the figure does not bear a note in this regard and no foundation certificate has been received. Due to the fact that Abbess Theophanu used enamel work of the nimbus of the Madonna on the Theophanu cross and the cross nail reliquary as spolia, the figure was certainly in Essen as early as the 11th century. Since then, the figure has only left the city in times of war and crisis, although the sources of this important work of art, like all research, are rather thin. The processions described when the figure was first mentioned in the Liber Ordinarius (around 1370) are already an annual tradition with a precisely defined liturgy. Apparently neither the dispute between the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Lords of Isenberg over the Bailiwick over the Essen Monastery , which culminated in the murder of Cologne Archbishop Engelbert von Berg by Friedrich von Isenberg , nor the centuries-old dispute between the monastery and the city Food, whether the city is subject to the monastery or a free imperial city , influence on the possession and whereabouts of the Madonna. The Madonna between Saints Cosmas and Damian is depicted on the Essen city seal from 1244. Due to the weak sources, it is not even certain where the Essen monastery kept the Golden Madonna. Since the canon received the figure from the treasurer for the light measurement processions, it is assumed that the figure was only used for processions and that the rest of the time was kept elsewhere. The fortress-like westwork of the collegiate church or an extension next to the right aisle, the armarium dictum sychter , on the site of today's treasury are discussed as storage locations. According to the structural findings, both places were medieval treasuries.
Evacuations in Modern Times
It was not until the Thirty Years' War that the Madonna had to be evacuated from the city for the first time. In 1622 the cathedral treasure was fled to Düsseldorf , but it was soon brought back. In 1634 the Essen abbess Maria Clara von Spaur brought herself and the cathedral treasure to safety in Cologne, where they remained until the end of the Thirty Years' War. The Madonna and the lost Marsus shrine of the cathedral treasure were carried along in the Cologne processions during this time. As contemporary reports established, they outshone Cologne's treasures with their splendor. The exact year of the return of the treasures from Cologne is not recorded.
In 1794, when the French advanced towards Essen, the Madonna was brought to safety again, this time to Steele in the orphanage donated by the abbess Christine . With the secularization of 1803 the Madonna stayed in Essen. Instead of the dissolved women's monastery, the Catholic parish of St. John, which used the collegiate church as a parish church, became the owner of the Madonna. In the following century the Madonna remained in the treasury, only occasionally visited by art historians. In 1905, after Humann discovered damage in 1904, the first restoration was carried out, without which the figure would probably not have survived the numerous journeys of the century.
Events in the 20th century
During the First World War the figure stayed in Essen, but the fear of an impending communist revolution prompted the leadership of the St. Johannes Congregation in the summer of 1920 to bring the cathedral treasure including the Madonna to a safe place. For security reasons, they did not even want to know the hiding place. An Aachen goldsmith and restorer procured a hiding place in another German diocese as a middleman, the bishop of which was informed of the hiding action, but not about the hiding place itself, which nobody knew except the middleman and the keeper of the hiding place. A document stating the hiding place in the event that the hiding places found death was deposited in a Dutch diocese as security. The secrecy worked so well that to this day it is not known exactly where the hiding place was, into which the confidant brought the cathedral treasure, which was packed in shabby suitcases and cardboard boxes, as the document deposited in the Netherlands was destroyed after the cathedral treasure was returned. All that is known is that the hiding place was in the Diocese of Hildesheim . The return of the Madonna and the cathedral treasure was organized in a similarly conspiratorial manner as the transfer. When the situation seemed safe enough to the parish at the end of 1924, the confidant drove with her son to Hildesheim in the summer of 1925, received the treasure and took the treasure wrapped in inconspicuous packaging on the Reichsbahn as a 4th class traveler, i.e. as a passenger Payloads, back to Essen.
During the Second World War , the Golden Madonna and the rest of the cathedral treasure were evacuated first to Warstein and then to the Albrechtsburg in Meißen . From there it was brought to an air raid shelter in Siegen , in which the Cologne Cathedral Treasure with the Gero Cross, the Siegburg Church Treasure with the Anno Shrine, the Xanten Cathedral Treasure and the church treasures from Elten and Vreden were hidden. It was found there at the end of the war by American troops who took it to the State Museum in Marburg . From there it came to the art depot Schloss Dyck near Rheydt , from which several exhibitions such as 1947 in Cologne University, but also in neighboring countries, were stocked. From April to June 1949 the Madonna was the highlight of an exhibition in Brussels , which was then shown in Amsterdam until October . The sculpture then returned to Essen, initially in a safe in the city savings bank until the treasury of the collegiate church, which had been destroyed in the war, was rebuilt. She has not left the city since.
Art-historical classification and iconography
Suspected influences
The Golden Madonna is the oldest fully plastic sculpture north of the Alps and the oldest surviving figure of Mary. In addition, thanks to its gilding, it is one of the few surviving examples of gold-plated cult figures that are mentioned more frequently in the early Middle Ages, but of which, with the exception of a St. Fides in the treasure of Conques Abbey in southern France, it is the oldest. The full plastic design as well as the use of cell enamel point to Byzantine influence, which only made itself felt in the Holy Roman Empire after the marriage of Emperor Otto II to the Byzantine princess Theophanu in 972. At the same time, the figure shows that the sculptor was used to creating reliefs, but was still inexperienced in creating a full sculpture, as the transitions between the front, side and rear views are partially imperfect. The different views do not fit together into a real unity.
Religious and political symbolic content
The iconography of the Madonna is very complex, like many medieval artworks. Mary is shown with the childlike Jesus on her lap, sitting on a stool and wearing a rather simple robe. The figure of the child is shown oversized. This oversize reflects the importance of the Savior. Mary, theologically an important saint, takes a back seat to him. The figure represents Mary in a serving role, based on Luke 1, 38: See, I am the Lord's maid . At the same time she is represented as a throne of divine wisdom ; This representation is based on 1 Kings 10:18 , where it says of Solomon's throne: And the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the noblest gold. The child's half-seated posture as well as its clothing in priestly vestments characterize it as the enthroned ruler of heaven who preaches Christian doctrine. As a proclaimer of the doctrine, the Jesus figure holds a book. It can be assumed that the original right hand made a gesture of blessing, as was typical for the portrayal of Jesus as the teacher of divine wisdom.
It is noticeable, however, that the figure of the baby Jesus does not turn its gaze towards the viewer of the statue. Rather, his gaze is directed towards the face of the Madonna, whose eyes always seem to be directed towards the viewer. Mary is not only shown in her serving role, she is also the mediator between the viewer and the bringer of the doctrine of salvation.
At the same time, she faces the viewer in a different role, because she is holding a preciously decorated ball with her right hand. There are several possible interpretations of this sphere, which are not mutually exclusive. Because of its enthroned posture, one is tempted to interpret the ball as an orb of the empire ; the handing over of an imperial orb is only attested for the coronation of Konrad II in 1024. The interpretation as imperial orb is therefore ruled out; In addition, the imperial orb in the usual representations is held firmly by the wearer with the whole hand, not easily with just three fingers.
The interpretation of the ball as the apple of salvation is therefore widespread. In the same way that Eve held the apple of calamity from the tree of knowledge, Mary holds out an apple to the viewer, which symbolizes the redemption that she brought into the world through the birth of Christ. The Golden Madonna is therefore a representation of the new Eve.
Another interpretation of the sphere ties in with the interpretation of the imperial orb. At the coronation of the Roman-German emperors , the imperial orb symbolized power over the circle of the world, the mundus . Even if the imperial orb was introduced later, the depiction of the mundus as a sphere was already known at the time the Madonna was made; Representations of kings with this symbol of power can be found in particular in Carolingian and Ottonian book illumination . The ball held by the Golden Madonna can therefore be interpreted as a representation of the Mundus . Mary holds the power over the world in her hand, and she easily holds this power with her slender fingers for the one to whom it really belongs, namely the child on her lap.
From today's point of view, a mother who holds power over the earth for her child's son appears to be a harmless statement; this could have been different when the Madonna was created. In 983, Emperor Otto II , the uncle of Mathilde II, the abbess of Essen at the time, died in Rome and the only heir was his three-year-old son, who later became Emperor Otto III. leave. For Otto III. had, although the exercise of such power by a woman was rather unusual at the time, whose mother Theophanu exercised the reign. This right and the claim of Otto III. Heinrich the quarrel had initially claimed for himself as the closest male relative of Otto II, against whom Theophanu prevailed with the help of the church. The Golden Madonna can therefore also be interpreted as an expression of Theophanus' claim, Otto III's claim as ruler raised by God's grace. to maintain the empire. Therefore, there are several reasons to accept Empress Theophanu as the donor of the Madonna. Mathilde II von Essen was likely to have stood on Theophanus' side in the dispute with the brawler, since as the heiress of her brother Otto von Schwaben , who had received his duchy of Bavaria after the brawler's revolt in 976 , she would not have been in his favor. The honors that Otto III. This is confirmed by the foundation of the Marsus Shrine and donations of goods to the Essen monastery . It is therefore obvious, if not proven, that the Golden Madonna came to Essen as thanks for the political support of Theophanus.
Influences
The Golden Madonna itself became the model for other gold-studded cult figures. The great golden Madonna of the Hildesheim Cathedral Treasure was probably created a little later under Bishop Bernward. The Benna Cross was created around 1000, the Helmstedt Cross from around 1060 , the fire gilding of which has been preserved under the corroded surface, was one of the last large golden sculptures. Around the same time as the Helmstadt Cross, sculptures with the enthroned Mother of God of the Frankfurt Liebinghaus and the Paderborn Imad Madonna were created , which corresponded to the type of the Golden Madonna, but were originally colored, whereby the Imad Madonna, which shortly after its creation in one Fire had been damaged, but around 1060 it still got a now lost gold coating.
Liturgical meaning
Historical veneration
The Golden Madonna played an important role in the liturgy of the Essen monastery. She was carried in all important processions, and the altar of the Madonna was the place where deeds of donation in favor of the monastery were deposited, so that the donated goods were symbolically placed in the care of Mary. Here, however, it is unclear whether the altar figure was the figure known today as the Golden Madonna, as two other figures of Mary are listed in the surviving inventories of the monastery.
The most important festivity in the Essen cult of Mary was the feast of Maria Lichtmeß , with which 40 days after Christmas the day was celebrated on which Mary brought the newborn Jesus to the temple. In preparation for the feast, the guardian of the treasury gave the figure to the youngest canon the evening before. He brought them hidden under the coat on a fixed path to the St. Gertrudis Church, now known as the market church in Essen , which was the town and town church. It was kept there overnight. On the day of the festival, the statue was then veiled and brought in front of the collegiate church via a designated processional path. It was placed on the “steyn”, where the fees were usually paid to the pen. There it was festively unveiled and crowned with the golden crown preserved in the cathedral treasure, which may be the children's crown of Emperor Otto III. acts. Then the Madonna entered the collegiate church under the guidance of the population, just as Mary had been accompanied by the people of the heavenly Jerusalem when she entered the temple. These processions were carried out until 1561 and then stopped, as St. Gertrudis became a Protestant church due to the Reformation that had been introduced in the city of Essen.
Another important procession in which the Madonna was carried took place annually on the Monday before Ascension Day, which is celebrated 40 days after Easter . On this day the Madonna became the annual formal meeting between the canons, canons and scholars of the Essen monastery and its subsidiary, the monastery in Essen-Rellinghausen , possibly founded by the Essen abbess Mathilde II , with the monks of the abbey neighbors are brought along. A memorial stone on the St. Mark's Path in Essen-Bredeney, where the meeting point for the Essen and Werden processions, a chapel of St. Mark , was to commemorate these annual meetings .
The first Bishop of Essen, Franz Hengsbach, renewed the medieval custom of the Coronation of Mary in 1978. Due to the restoration concerns, the coronations had to be stopped again in 2000.
Today's admiration
Since Mary as the mother of good advice , venerated in the portrait of the Golden Madonna, when the Ruhr diocese was founded in 1959 by Pope Johannes XXIII. was raised to the patron saint of the diocese of Essen, the centuries-old statue now symbolizes the Ruhr diocese. The Bishop of Essen, Franz Hengsbach, therefore decided not to keep the Golden Madonna in the treasury, which is only accessible for an admission fee, but to make it freely accessible to the faithful in the Muenster Church . Since 1959, the Golden Madonna has been in an air-conditioned high-security showcase in the north side chapel of the minster, in front of which believers can always be found during the opening hours of the minster church.
The Golden Madonna, also known locally as "Eat his treasure", was also the star of an advertising poster for the city of Essen.
literature
- Georg Humann : The works of art of the cathedral church to eat. Düsseldorf 1904, pp. 251-266.
- Leonhard Küppers , Paul Mikat : The Essen Minster Treasure. Fredebeul & Koenen, Essen 1966.
- Alfred Pothmann : The "Golden Madonna" of the Essen Cathedral Church. In: The Minster on Hellweg. Vol. 31, 1978, pp. 117-130.
- Frank Fehrenbach: The golden Madonna in Essen Minster. The queen's body. Edition Tertium, Ostfildern 1996, ISBN 3-930717-23-9 .
- Eduard Hlawitschka : Empresses nobility and Theophanu. in: Women of the Middle Ages in Pictures of Life. Styria Verlag, Graz 1997, ISBN 3-222-12467-1 , pp. 27-71.
- Alfred Pothmann: The Essen church treasure from the early days of the monastery history. in: Rulership, Education and Prayer - Founding and Beginnings of the Essen Women's Monastery. Klartext, Essen 2000, ISBN 3-88474-907-2 , pp. 135–153.
- Birgitta Falk : “an image of the Mother of God plated with gold” - On the state of preservation of the Golden Madonna of Essen Cathedral. in: The minster on Hellweg vol. 56, 2003 = Alfred Pothmann - guardian and keeper - researcher and narrator - memorial. Essen 2003, ISBN 3-00-012328-8 , pp. 159-174.
- Jan Gerchow : The treasure of the Essen women's monastery until the 15th century. On the history of the institution. in: The minster on Hellweg vol. 56, 2003 = Alfred Pothmann - guardian and keeper - researcher and narrator - memorial. Essen 2003, ISBN 3-00-012328-8 , pp. 79-110.
- Antje Bosselmann-Ruickbie, Yvonne Stolz: Ottonian nimbus or Byzantine necklace? On the Golden Madonna and ten trapezoidal enamels on the nail reliquary and the Theophanu cross in the Essen Cathedral Treasury. In: Mitteilungen zur Late Antique Archeology and Byzantine Art History 6, 2009, pp. 77–114.
- Annegret Friedrich: "I don't look you in the eye, little one": At the reception of the Essen Golden Madonna . In: Peter K. Klein and Regine Prange (eds.): Zeitenspiegelung. On the importance of traditions in art and art history. Festschrift for Konrad Hoffmann . Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1998, pp. 21-32 ISBN 978-3-496-01192-7
Web links
- Golden Madonna on the sides of the Cathedral Treasury Essen
Remarks
- ↑ See Lydia Konnegen: Hidden Treasures. The Essen minster treasure in times of the Ruhr conflict. in: Münster am Hellweg. Bulletin of the Association for the Preservation of the Essen Minster. 58, 2005, pp. 67-81.
