Corona Leopardus Shrine

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Corona Leopardus Shrine (photo taken in 1913)
Dome reliquary from the Guelph treasure as a model for the Corona Leopardus Shrine, manufactured in Cologne towards the end of the 12th century, pit melt on gilded copper, gilded bronze and partially gilded silver; Base plate with brown varnish; Figure reliefs made of walrus tooth ; Eichenholzkern ( Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin )

The Corona Leopardus Shrine was built in 1911/1912 by the Aachen goldsmith Bernhard Witte for the storage of the relics of St. Corona and St. Reliquary container made by Leopardus . The gilded and enamelled shrine was presented to the public for the first time in August 1912 as part of the special exhibition of Christian art on the occasion of the 59th German Catholic Day. The reliquary belongs to the Aachen Cathedral Treasury and is kept in the depot of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury .

Prehistory and relics

The relics of St. Corona were founded in 996/997 together with those of St. Leopardus from Emperor Otto III. after his coronation as emperor in simple lead sarcophagi with gable roofs transferred from Otricoli in northern Italy to Aachen. Originally the relics of St. Corona for one of Otto III. planned monastery on the Aachen Lousberg . The lead coffins, which were rather unusual for the Middle Ages, were roughly composed of lead plates of different thicknesses and provided with unprofessionally executed inscriptions .

Detail of the inscription of the leopardus coffin

The corona coffin is 127 centimeters long, 45 centimeters wide and 67 centimeters high and bears the inscription:

CLAVDITVR HOC TVMVLO MA [RTI] R CORONA BENIGNA TERTIVS HIC CAESAR QVAM DVCENS CONDERAT OTT [O]

(The pious martyr Corona, who brought Emperor Otto III here and buried here, is enclosed in this grave)

The leopardus coffin is 121 centimeters long, 45 centimeters wide and 70 centimeters high and has the following inscription:

CLAVDITVR HIC MAGNVS LEOPARDVS NOMINE CLARVS CVIVS ​​IN OBSEQVIO REGNABAT TERTIVS OTTO

(This includes the great Leopardus with a famous name, during whose translation Otto III reigned.)

It is assumed that the inscriptions were also on panels on the octagon pillars near the Corona and Leopardus crypts. After the Corona and Leopardus altars were erected, the inscriptions were placed on the coffins in the early 11th century, which were buried in the Corona crypt in the northeast yoke and Leopardus crypt in the southeast yoke of the cathedral church . The location of the corona and Leopardus tomb today shows an inscription plate made of bluestone in the floor of the Sechszehnecks on. The two saints have been venerated as patrons of the Marienstift in Aachen since the 11th century .

The two relic coffins were rediscovered in the course of excavations in 1843, recovered in 1910 and the relics removed. The two lead coffins were first transferred to the St. Michael's Chapel in the cathedral, the copper casts of the inscriptions are now in the Aachen cathedral treasury. Today the two lead coffins are on permanent loan at the Center Charlemagne .

The Aachen provost Alfons Bellesheim suggested that an appropriate shrine be made for the precious relics. The goldsmith's work was financed from private funds. Alfons Bellesheim himself made an amount of 11,000 marks available for the realization.

A pictorial representation of St. Corona and St. Leopardus, together with the archangels Raphael and Gabriel , can also be found in a window of the Nikolauskapelle in Aachen Cathedral.

Origin and restoration history

In 1911, three designs for the reliquary were presented to the public in the Suermondt Museum in Aachen . In addition to the Aachen workshop for sacred art August Witte GmbH , the Dresden architect Robert B. Witte also presented a design for the reliquary in the form of a canopy altar with a box reliquary. As a decoration, the design provided for numerous artistic recourse to the Ottonian art of the early 11th century. Although the collegiate chapter and the experts consulted had spoken out in favor of Robert Witte's design, August Witte GmbH was commissioned to build the Corona Leopardus shrine. Work on the reliquary began in December 1911. In addition to Bernhard Witte, around 50 artisans were still working on the completion of the shrine. As early as August 1912, the reliquary was presented to the public on the 59th German Catholic Day.

After the Corona-Leopardus-Shrine was deposited in the storeroom of the cathedral treasury for the last 25 years, it was decided to present the reliquary as an exhibit in the special exhibition Medieval 2.0 on goldsmithing in historicism planned for June 2020 . The Corona Leopardus Shrine has been fundamentally restored since the beginning of 2020 and, on the occasion of the reopening of the Cathedral Treasury, has been on public display since May 12, 2020.

Form and image program

The model for the shrine created by Bernhard Witte was the Romanesque dome reliquaries from the 12th century, which were made in Cologne, including the dome reliquary from the Welfenschatz (now the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin ) and the dome reliquary from Hochelten (now the Victoria and Albert Museum ).

The 95 centimeter high, 74 centimeter wide and 98 kilogram heavy shrine houses, wrapped in silk scarves, the relics of St. Corona and St. Leopardus. The richly decorated, gilded and enamelled shrine was decorated by Witte with 375 precious and semi-precious stones. A vessel in the form of a cross-domed church rises above a profiled base . The following foundation inscription was affixed around the base:

" Sacra quae pius Otto III. Imperator Aquisgranum transtulit sanctorum Leopardi et Coronae Martyrum ossa Dr. Alphonsus Bellesheim capituli Aquisgranensis praepositus in hanc pretiosam thecam recludi curavit Pio X. papa Wilhelmo II. Imperatore feliciter regnantibus AD MCMXII. "
“The holy bones of the holy martyrs Leopardus and Corona, which the pious Emperor Otto III. transferred to Aachen, Dr. Alfons Bellesheim, provost in Aachen, in this precious shrine when Pope Pius X and Kaiser Wilhelm II reigned happily, in the year of the Lord 1912. "

At the end of the cross arms there are portal-like triumphal arches, each supported by two enamelled columns, resting on ivory bases and filigree capitals . In the portal niches carved reliefs depicting the martyrdom of St. Corona and St. Leopardus, the transfer of the relics to Aachen by Otto III. as well as the lifting of the lead coffins in 1910. The spandrels of the portal arches are decorated with ivory reliefs showing the four cardinal virtues and another four virtues. In the gable fields above the portal arches are the coats of arms of Pope Pius X , the German Emperor Wilhelm II , the Aachen collegiate chapter and the provost Alfons Bellesheim. The ridge crests of the gables were modeled on that of the Siegburg Anno Shrine , the roof surfaces were decorated with a tile-like structure. In the arched niches of the cross arms there are statuettes of the emperors Otto I , Otto II , Otto III. and Heinrich II , each flanked by two angels carrying palm fronds.

An arcade drum rises above the crossing of the cross-domed church, which carries the decorated folding dome . At the base of the drum there is a ribbon decorated with ivory medallions depicting the four elements . The tambour is divided into twelve niches by small agate columns. At the foot of the columns, gold-plated miniatures of the pine cone and the Aachen wolf are alternately placed. Statues of rulers and saints appear in the niches: In addition to Charlemagne as the builder of the cathedral church, the drum niches contain the figures of Pope Gregory V and Pope Silvester II , Bishop Bernward von Hildesheim , Adalbert von Prague , and Bruno von Cologne and Heribert of Cologne as well as Stephan I and his son, St. Emmerich , from St. Nilus and St. Romuald and St. Mathilde .

The enamel-covered dome of the shrine is divided by belts and rests on the agate columns of the drum, the protruding dome surface forms the canopy for a figure below in the drum niches. The individual dome segments are decorated with twelve zodiac signs in pit enamel. The folding dome is crowned with an ornate node and a three-dimensional cross, which is modeled on the Lothar cross . The underside of the Nodus is decorated with the symbols of the four paradise rivers Euphrates and Tigris , Pishon and Gihon , while the symbols of the four evangelists can be seen on the top .

literature

  • August Richard Maier: The new Corona and Leopardus shrine . In: Aachener Kunstblätter Heft 7/8, 1913, pp. 88–92.
  • Oscar Doering-Dachau : A masterpiece of ecclesiastical goldsmithing . In: Die Christliche Kunst, 10th year, 1915, pp. 9-14
  • Eduard Teichmann: About the holy martyrs Leopardus and Corona in the Aachen Minster . In: Journal of the Aachener Geschichtsverein Volume 51, 1929, pp. 374–381
  • The Corona and Leopardus Shrine . In Ernst Günther Grimme : The Aachen Cathedral Treasure . L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, p. 152f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Aachen Cathedral, Michaelskapelle: reliquary coffins. In: German inscriptions online. 1992, accessed March 28, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Harald Müller, Clemens MM Bayer, Max Kerner: The Aachener Marienkirche: Aspects of their archeology and early history . 1st edition. Regensburg, ISBN 978-3-7954-2801-3 , pp. 78 .
  3. ↑ a b c Corona with a difference. Dombauhütte Aachen, accessed on March 28, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Renovation of mosaics, marble cladding and floors in the central building. Retrieved March 27, 2020 .
  5. ↑ The Holy Corona rests in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. Retrieved March 27, 2020 .
  6. ^ Oscar Doering-Dachau: A masterpiece of ecclesiastical goldsmithing . In: The Christian Art . tape 10 , 1915, pp. 9 .
  7. ↑ a b c August Richard Maier: The new Corona and Leopardus shrine . In: Aachener Kunstblätter . tape 7/8 . Aachen 1913, p. 89 .
  8. ↑ a b Corona's bones in the treasury. Retrieved March 27, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Aachen Cathedral shows Corona shrine. May 11, 2020, accessed May 14, 2020 .
  10. ^ A b Ernst Günther Grimme: The Corona and Leopardus Shrine . In: The Aachen Cathedral Treasure . L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, p. 152 .
  11. ↑ a b c Ernst Günther Grimme: The Corona and Leopardus Shrine . In: The Aachen Cathedral Treasure . L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, p. 153 .
  12. ^ A b Oscar Doering-Dachau: A masterpiece of ecclesiastical goldsmithing . In: The Christian Art . tape 10 , 1915, pp. 14 .