Ambo of Henry II.

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Ambo of Heinrich II. In Aachen Cathedral

Between 1002 and 1014, Heinrich II had an ambo in the form of a pulpit built for the chapel of the Aachen Royal Palace , today's Aachen Cathedral , Heinrich II's ambo, or also popularly called Heinrichsambo or Heinrichskanzel . The ambo is one of the most important works of art of the Ottonian period .

Originally the pulpit was probably in the central axis of the octagon in front of the main altar . After completion of the choir extension in 1414, the ambo was attached to the south side of the first choir bay. The wooden staircase was built in 1782. In the years 1816/17 and 1924 to 1939 the ambo was extensively restored. Henry II's pulpit is still in liturgical use on high holidays to this day .

description

Structure, equipment and classification

Left side

About a cloverleaf-shaped layout the parapet wall of is Ambos to see that by filigree - and gemstone trimmings - only one of these borders is preserved in its original - on oak base in nine with brown varnish is divided spruce squares, five of which one crux gemmata in the form of a Greek cross form . Precious vessels adorn these fields; three are original, two added later. The original pieces are a rock crystal cup and saucer and an oval antique agate bowl , believed to date from the third or fourth century AD. How Emperor Heinrich II came into possession of the agate bowl cannot be conclusively stated; however, the sources report gifts from Eastern Roman delegations . According to some research, it concerns parts of a splendid crockery from the trousseau of Empress Theophanu , the wife of Otto II. The first two objects represent oriental works probably from the late tenth or eleventh century. Rock crystal works like this were also enjoyed north of the Alps extremely popular and were quickly procured in large quantities from the eastern Mediterranean . A green ribbed bowl and another agate bowl (below, from 1937) make up the subsequent additions. Chess pieces made of agate and chalcedony frame the drinking vessels. In the remaining four corner fields, embossed copper reliefs with depictions of the writing evangelists can be seen. Only the original Matthew panel (top left) has been preserved; the other three reliefs, on the other hand, were recreated from plaster models from the 1870s. Both the parapet wall and the surrounding on either side columnar protrusions are decorated with numerous foliage ornamented bronze hallmarks .

Copper reliefs of the Evangelists

Probably the most peculiar decorative works spread out on the side segments of the anvil: There are six convex ivory panels using the curve of the elephant's tooth , Alexandrian works from the sixth century AD. The top fields of the two bulges flanking the parapet wall show warlike victorious types. Two geniuses each put a crown on their heads. While the warrior on the right stands ready to fight, the warrior on the left, sitting on a horse, thrusts a lance into the body of an armored dragon. Another panel shows Nereids riding on sea animals , daughters of the Greek sea ​​god Nereus and his wife Doris , who are also companions of Poseidon . In the imagination of Greek mythology, they embodied the splashing of the sea. On a fourth panel is a stately dressed crowned goddess who carries a ship in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left , which ends in a small temple from which a child looks out. The dome of the temple is adorned by angels playing music. The goddess could be a personification of the city of Alexandria or Tyche , the daughter of Zeus and goddess of good and bad fortune , who steers the ship of life. The crown and child are also reminiscent of Isis , the Egyptian goddess of love and the sea, who as the mother of gods lovingly carries her son in her hands. A to the sounds of the aulos and the flute of Pan dancing maenad feet of the goddess already refers to the illustrated including Dionysus , known for its rampant, heady celebrations Greek god of wine. Leaning casually with crossed legs on a pillar, he grabs the vine leaves surrounding him and pours out a high arch of wine from a jug held above his head, which flows down the throat of a lioness. Little angels and mythical creatures whiz through the scene . The god of intoxication can be found in a very similar scene on two of the six relief panels.

The - in this case particularly plastic - use of ancient motifs and elements in art is a fundamental idea for the (not undisputed) term of the Ottonian Renaissance , to which the ambo in its unique execution can be assigned.

  • Overall view (bottom view)

  • The antique agate bowl

  • Rock crystal vessel (left) and ribbed bowl

  • Crystal with chess pieces

  • Ivory relief

  • Baroque staircase

  • Carving on the parapet of the staircase

Inscriptions

At the upper and lower edge of the anvil, each continuously from the left side part over the middle part to the right side portion, there is an in brown varnish executed metric dedicatory inscription , the Henry II., With rex pius Heinricus , identifies and dubbed as the donor of four leonine hexameter consists, addressed to the Virgin Mary . Its original text has only been preserved in fragments in the original, but was able to be supplemented during restorations at the end of the 1930s with the help of written records, so that the verses are fully legible again today:

[HOC] OPVS AMBONIS AVRO [GEMMISQVE MICANTIS |
REX PI] VS HEINRICVS CELAE [STIS HONORIS ANHELVS |
DAPSILIS EX PROPRIO TIBI DAT SANCTISSIMA VIRGO |
QVO PRE] CE SVMMA TVA SIBI [MERCES FIAT VSIA] |

"
The pious King Heinrich, striving for heavenly honor, gives this work of the anvil , shining with gold and precious stones , to
you, most holy virgin, from his possessions,
so that through your request the highest grace may grant him."

The inscriptions on the four evangelist reliefs are also in Leonine hexameters. The couples are:

(to Matthew)

+ MATHEE PROGENIEM (CHRIST) | NVMERANDO PRIOREM |
AD IOSEPH EX ABRAHA (M) LEGERIS | BENE TENDERE NORMAM |

"Matthew, by listing the descent of Christ
from Abraham to Joseph , you will understand the sequence."

(to Markus)

+ MARCE LEO FORTIS FORTE (M) | RESONARE VIDERIS |
CERTA RESVRGENDI PER | QVE (M) SPES VENERAT ORBI |

"Mark, strong Leo, you will hear the strong one
through whom the sure hope of the resurrection came to the earth."

(to Lukas)

+ MVGIT ADESSE SACRVM | LVCAS LIBAMINIS AESVM |
QVOD CONFIXA CRVCI | FRIXIT RESOLVCIO MVNDI |

"Luke proclaims the presence of the holy sacrificial food,
which preserves the redemption of the world pinned to the cross."

(to Johannes)

+ MENS TYPICI SOLIS [RADIO] | PERFVSA JOHANNIS |
LVCE PRIVS GENITVM DE | VIRGINE NVNCIAT ORTVM |

"Filled with the rays of the symbolic sun, the spirit of John proclaims
that he who was earlier than light was born of the virgin."

Theological-symbolic statement

The use of profane art and culture for its own purposes was never alien to Christianity from the beginning. Thus, the message of the triumph of the Christian message over paganism can also be seen as contained in the use of the ornamental pieces described for the Heinrich pulpit: the once secular art treasures have now become constitutive parts of the anvil as a sacred place of proclamation of the Good News . According to another opinion, Heinrich II's ambo is to be understood in its entirety as an eclectic attempt to relate the strangeness of its elements from the most varied of cultures to the Christian worldview of the Middle Ages and to integrate it into it.

literature

Critical editions of the inscriptions

Art history studies

  • Erika Doberer: Studies on the ambo of Emperor Heinrich II. In Aachen Cathedral. In: Carolingian and Ottonian art. Becoming, essence, effect. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1957, pp. 308-359.
  • Horst Appuhn: The middle piece of King Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen. In: Aachener Kunstblätter 32, 1966, pp. 70–73.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme : The Aachen Cathedral Treasure. 2nd edition, Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, No. 27, pp. 38-43.
    • Regarding the elements no longer used during the renovation in 1926–37 :, No. 28, pp. 43–45.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme: The Aachen Cathedral. Architecture and equipment. Einhard, Aachen 1994, pp. 107-114, 133.
  • Herta Lepie , Georg Minkenberg : The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Einhard, Aachen 1995, pp. 38-39.
  • Wolfgang Cortjaens: The evangelist reliefs from the ambo of Heinrich II. A "model case" of the 19th century. In: Aachener Kunstblätter 61, 1995/97 (1998), pp. 429-447.
  • Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Dissertation, Technical University Aachen, Aachen 1998.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme: The Aachen Cathedral. Einhard, Aachen 2000, ISBN 978-3-930701-75-9 , pp. 56-58.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme: The golden cathedral of the Ottonians. Einhard, Aachen 2001, ISBN 3-930701-90-1 , pp. 69, 72-80.
  • Herta Lepie, Ann Münchow: Ivory art from the Aachen cathedral treasure. Imhof, Petersberg 2006, ISBN 3-86568-000-3 , pp. 26-58.
  • Walter Maas, Pit Siebigs: The Aachen Cathedral. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2445-9 , pp. 109–116.
  • Herta Lepie: The Aachen Cathedral Treasure. In: Clemens MM Bayer, Dominik M. Meiering , Martin Seidler, Martin Struck (eds.): Treasure art in Rhenish churches and museums. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2827-3 , pp. 121–137, here pp. 131–132.

Theological Studies

  • Albert Damblon: You don't have to be dismissed. On the history and effect of Christian sermon places (= Aesthetics - Theology - Liturgy. Vol. 27). LIT, Münster 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6663-7 , pp. 24-27 ( excerpts from Google Books ).
  • Hans Jürgen Roth: An image of the sky. Aachen Cathedral - liturgy, bible, art. Thouet, Aachen 2011, pp. 75–82.

Web links

Commons : Ambo Heinrichs II.  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, p. 7 discusses the question of which designation is the right one, with the result that by the designation pulpit “the idea of ​​a sermon given there misleadingly [covers] the original function [of the solemn reading of the Gospel]. "
  2. ↑ Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, pp. 18–31.
  3. ↑ Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, p. 47.
  4. ↑ Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, p. 48 mw N.
  5. ↑ Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, p. 69.
  6. ↑ Herta Lepie, Georg Minkenberg: The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Aachen 1995, p. 38.
  7. ↑ Herta Lepie, Georg Minkenberg: The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Aachen 1995, p. 38; Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, pp. 158-159.
  8. ↑ Critical to this view, often represented by research: Silke Schomburg: The ambo of Heinrich II. In the Aachen Cathedral. Aachen 1998, pp. 155-158.
  9. ↑ See reconstruction and critical edition by Karl Strecker in: ders .: Die Ottonenzeit. P. 357, No. 8 ( digitized version ).
  10. ↑ The following text based on the current critical edition by Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen Cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, pp. 17-18, No. 19 A (with commentary) ( online ). The text in brackets is not the original.
  11. ^ Translation after Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen Cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, p. 18, No. 19 A ( online ).
  12. ^ Text based on Karl Strecker in: ders .: Die Ottonenzeit. P. 357, No. 8; Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, pp. 17-18, No. 19 B-E (with commentary) ( online ).
  13. ^ Translation after Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen Cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, p. 18, No. 19 B (with commentary) ( online ).
  14. ^ Translation after Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen Cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, p. 18, No. 19 C (with commentary) ( online ).
  15. ^ Translation after Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen Cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, p. 18, No. 19 D (with comment) ( online ).
  16. ^ Translation after Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen Cathedral. Wiesbaden 1992, p. 18, No. 19 E (with commentary) ( online ).
  17. ↑ See Hans Jürgen Roth: An image of the sky. Aachen Cathedral - liturgy, bible, art. Pp. 81-82.
  18. ↑ Cf. Silke Schomburg: Heinrich II's ambo in Aachen Cathedral. P. 197.