Angel Pillar in Strasbourg Cathedral

The angel pillar

The court pillar , or angel pillar , is located in the south transept of the Strasbourg cathedral and is equipped with a sculpture program depicting the world judgment . Its creation is dated to the 13th century, roughly between 1225 and 1240. The master of this sculpture is anonymous, but it is known that he made other sculptures in the minster, such as the depiction of the death of the Virgin and the Coronation of the Virgin in the Tympana des South transept portal and Ecclesia and synagogue to the side of the portal. He is also called the Ekklesia Master .

Building history

The angel pillar (between 1225 and 1240) is located in the south transept of the Strasbourg cathedral and functions as a central pillar in this part of the transept. The construction of a central pillar is an absolute novelty in Gothic architecture . The pillar accommodates the arches and ribs of the vault. There are 4 strong and 4 weak ministries around the core of the pillar . The girth arches run in the strong services, with the ribs continuing in the weak services. The sculptures that are arranged around the pillar seem to take on the support function of the services. In addition, they form a closed iconography . The sculptures are made from the service pieces on the back from one stone. A similar construction can be found in the north transept, but the central pillar here is a very unadorned, round pillar without sculptures in the middle of the north transept. The special location for the sculptural angel pillar can be traced back to a renovation of the cathedral in the 11th / 12th century. The original, early Romanesque floor plan from the 11th century and the west facade should remain unchanged and be supplemented with new Gothic elements.

description

John the Evangelist

Trumpet angel

Christ as judge of the world

Dimensions

The bundle pillar has a height of 18.80 m. It stands on an octagonal base that is one meter in diameter. The figures are divided into three stacked zones. The four evangelists are in the lowest zone , the trumpet angels in the middle zone , and three angel sculptures and one Christ sculpture in the top zone. A total of twelve figures are arranged around the pillar, each of which stands on its own small base and is crowned with a canopy or architectural representations. A bud capital closes the pillar to the vault. All figures appear to be the same size, but the viewer's view from below was taken into account here, as each figure has a different size on closer inspection.

Lower zone

In the lower sculpture zone of the pillar you can see the four evangelists, Luke , Matthew , Mark and John with banners. Each sculpture stands on a console , each of which shows the evangelist symbols, the human stands for Matthew, the lion for Mark, the bull for Luke and the eagle for John. The evangelists Matthew and Luke and Mark and John turn to one another. They all have different hand positions. While Matthew, Luke and Mark are shown as bearded men, John is shown as a youth. All four are crowned with a nimbus . The hands, feet and faces of the evangelists were painted in flesh, robes and attributes were not colored.

Middle zone

The middle zone of the pillar shows four trumpet angels . These judgment angels incline their heads in the four directions and proclaim God's judgment in these very same directions. Their instruments, however, are directed towards the ground. The trumpet angels are also crowned with a nimbus. Here the sculptures were colored as in the first zone. The instrument of the southeastern trumpet angel is no longer preserved.

Upper zone

There are three angel sculptures and one Christ sculpture. The angels each carry an instrument of suffering (Latin Arma Christi ) with them, a cross and a nail, a crown of thorns and a lance. It is the instruments of torture that contributed to Christ's death. The three angels are shown standing, the Christ sculpture is not on the viewing side of the viewer - you have to walk around the pillar to see it. Christ is represented seated as the enthroned judge of the world . The risen can be seen under his throne on a pedestal. They stretch their arms to the Savior. The Savior himself raises his left hand. With this gesture he shows his wounds. In contrast to the angels around and below him, this sculpture was completely painted. His robe was gold and the insides were crimson. His throne and seat cushion were also painted in color, as were the resurrected under his throne. The stigmata were particularly eye-catching because they were also painted in red.

iconography

The depiction of the Last Judgment in Strasbourg Cathedral has a separate iconography . With the choice of location for the angelic pillar, the master makes a courageous, but not otherwise feasible decision. It is customary to place the Last Judgment representation on one of the west portals, as there was space available here to highlight the narrative scenes and the carriers of the event. In the Strasbourg cathedral, however, it was not possible to attach these groups of figures to the portal - on the one hand due to a lack of space, on the other hand the fear of an impending end of the world had moved into the background. The figurative narrative of the angel pillar focuses on the message of salvation and God's grace through the return of the Son of Man. Like many world judgment representations from the 12th century onwards, it relates to the Gospel of Matthew. Until the 12th century, the Last Judgment was awaited and looked at with fear and horror. The fear of God's final judgment was very great. In the Strasbourg cathedral, for example, there is a shortened but also less terrible presentation of the Last Judgment. As already mentioned, the narrative scenes, such as the depiction of hell, the weighing of souls and the division of the blessed and the damned, have been omitted. The representation is limited to a minimum, which achieves an aristocratic character. At that time it was important for the people to be able to see representations with a pictorial teaching in churches, as reading and writing had not penetrated into the lower classes of the population.

function

Last Judgment depictions in general are found in almost all Gothic churches. The fear of the believers about the Last Judgment was widespread in medieval times and thus this representation cannot be imagined in any church. The Last Judgment in sculptural form also serves as the site of the episcopal judgment, which was widespread in this age. The priests judged the sins of the accused. Their job was to find out who had done what, where, with what, why, how, and when. The priest judges, in God's name, whether or not sinful, whether damned or blessed. From the theological point of view, the representations of the Last Judgment should move the viewer to shape his earthly life in a Christian way. The usually usual place of the portal was chosen to bring these scenes to the minds of the believers again and again, as they had to walk past the scenes when entering the church.

In the Strasbourg Cathedral, the depiction of the Last Judgment is a special sculpture program. The angel pillar in the south transept must be viewed in conjunction with the south portal. On the south portal there is a representation of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary and the Death of Mary in the tympana. The enthroned King Solomon acts as a central column between the two portals. The statues Ekklesia and Synagogue are located in the walls on the right and left. These groups of sculptures come from the same master who created the sculptures of the angel pillar. Originally the sculptures of the 12 apostles were also located here, each of which fulfills a function at the coronation and death of Mary. Besides Christ, they also take part in the Last Judgment and lead the believers to the portal of paradise . Solomon shows Christ as judge on the south portal. This is shown by his seated posture and the attribute of the sword. There is a small bust of Christ over Solomon, which confirms his function. In addition, Solomon and the pillar of judgment are on one axis, which underlines the interaction of both. The assumption of Mary into heaven is often associated with the believing soul, since her “soul was carried into his kingdom by the heavenly bridegroom”. Thus, the tympana on the south portal also stand for the believers who also want to be accepted into his kingdom by the heavenly bridegroom. The living believers also play a major role in the presentation of the judgment. By walking around and looking at the pillar of judgment, they represent the resurrected themselves, who are only shown minimally on the base of the Christ sculpture. If you summarize all these aspects, the sculpture program inside and outside of the south transept is designed to visualize the message of salvation. From this it can be concluded that the priest or bishop, who acted as judge, held the judgment in the south transept, possibly also in front of the angel pillar.

Comparisons

As mentioned earlier, the Last Judgment is a major theme on Gothic church portals. The portals of Chartres (tympanum of the central south portal, around 1210) and Amiens (main portal, between 1220/1230) are the most important examples. These two portals show the usual representation of the Last Judgment. They are very detailed and elaborately structured. If you compare these, now very elaborately designed depictions of the Last Judgment on the portals with the court pillar in Strasbourg Cathedral, it becomes very clear that the narrative aspects, which are actually of great importance for understanding, are completely eliminated. The viewer is required to be able to understand the story of the Last Judgment through the few, but clearly identifiable sculptures around the pillar. However, if one takes into account the fact that the great fear of Judgment Day has receded and the sculptures of the pillar of judgment are supposed to convey the salvation and grace of God, it makes sense to leave out the narrative and sometimes fearful parts. As yet, there are no clear models for the iconography of the angel's pillar. However, there are similar conceptions of a pillar encased in individual sculptures or a sculpture program. Here the pillar with allegorical figures from Bryn Athyn (Pennsylvania) should be mentioned , which is dated to approx. 1170/1180. It is in the Glencairn Museum . There is a similar implementation in the cloister of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux in Châlons-sur-Marne, also dated to a similar period. In addition to these two examples, there is also the cross reliquary of St. Matthias in Trier , which resembles the arrangement of the figures. There are other examples in which a parallel can be drawn to the angel pillar. However, this only takes place for individual points. A parallel can be drawn from the Basel Gallus Gate (12th century) to the depiction of the evangelists in Strasbourg. Here there are almost life-size relief figures in his garments, which is otherwise very rare. A reduced representation of the Last Judgment can be found, for example, in the Ingeborg Psalter , whereby the evangelists are missing here.

literature

Sabine Bengel: The Strasbourg Cathedral, its eastern parts and the south transverse house workshop , Petersberg 2011.
Bruno Boerner: Par caritas par meritum. Studies on theology of the Gothic Last Judgment portal in France - using the example of the central west entrance of Notre-Dame in Paris. , Friborg Switzerland 1998.
Harald Keller : The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral . In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16.
Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin Mary in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The mediation of spiritual content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46.
Roland Recht: The Strasbourg Cathedral , Stuttgart 1971.

Web links

Commons : Angel Pillar in Strasbourg Cathedral - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: leaflet with the Strasbourg cathedral - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

^ Roland Recht: Das Straßburger Münster , Stuttgart 1971, p. 10.
↑ Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, p. 3–16, here: p. 4ff.
^ Roland Recht: Das Straßburger Münster , Stuttgart 1971, p. 24.
↑ Sabine Bengel: The Strasbourg Cathedral, its east parts and the south transverse house workshop , Petersberg 2011, p. 77.
^ Roland Recht: Das Straßburger Münster , Stuttgart 1971, p. 56.
↑ Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 6.
↑ ^a ^b Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The Mediation of Spiritual Content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46, here: p. 40.
↑ ^a ^b Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 13.
↑ Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 14.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sabine Bengel: Das Straßburger Münster, Seine Ostteile and the Südquerhauswerkstatt , Petersberg 2011, p. 175.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sabine Bengel: Das Straßburger Münster, Seine Ostteile and the Südquerhauswerkstatt , Petersberg 2011, p. 176.
↑ Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 9.
↑ Bruno Boerner: Par caritas par meritum. Studies on theology of the Gothic Last Judgment portal in France - using the example of the central west entrance of Notre-Dame in Paris. , Freiburg Switzerland 1998, pp. 95f.
↑ Bruno Boerner: Par caritas par meritum. Studies on theology of the Gothic Last Judgment portal in France - using the example of the central west entrance of Notre-Dame in Paris. , Friborg Switzerland 1998, p. 82.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The Mediation of Spiritual Content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46, here: p. 39.
↑ ^a ^b Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The Mediation of Spiritual Content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46, here: p. 38.

[1] Roland Recht: Das Straßburger Münster , Stuttgart 1971, p. 10.

[2] Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, p. 3–16, here: p. 4ff.

[3] Roland Recht: Das Straßburger Münster , Stuttgart 1971, p. 24.

[4] Sabine Bengel: The Strasbourg Cathedral, its east parts and the south transverse house workshop , Petersberg 2011, p. 77.

[5] Roland Recht: Das Straßburger Münster , Stuttgart 1971, p. 56.

[6] Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 6.

[Kurmann_S.40-7] Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The Mediation of Spiritual Content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46, here: p. 40.

[Keller_S.13-8] Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 13.

[9] Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 14.

[Bengel_S.175-10] Sabine Bengel: Das Straßburger Münster, Seine Ostteile and the Südquerhauswerkstatt , Petersberg 2011, p. 175.

[Bengel_S.176-11] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sabine Bengel: Das Straßburger Münster, Seine Ostteile and the Südquerhauswerkstatt , Petersberg 2011, p. 176.

[12] Harald Keller: The angel pillar in the Strasbourg cathedral. In: Carl Georg Heise (ed.): Der Kunstbrief , Berlin 1974, pp. 3–16, here: p. 9.

[13] Bruno Boerner: Par caritas par meritum. Studies on theology of the Gothic Last Judgment portal in France - using the example of the central west entrance of Notre-Dame in Paris. , Freiburg Switzerland 1998, pp. 95f.

[14] Bruno Boerner: Par caritas par meritum. Studies on theology of the Gothic Last Judgment portal in France - using the example of the central west entrance of Notre-Dame in Paris. , Friborg Switzerland 1998, p. 82.

[Kurmann_S.39-15] Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The Mediation of Spiritual Content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46, here: p. 39.

[Kurmann_S.38-16] Peter Kurmann and Eckart Conrad Lutz: Coronation of the Virgin in text and images. In: Timothy R. Jackson (ed.): The Mediation of Spiritual Content in the German Middle Ages , Tübingen 1996, pp. 23–46, here: p. 38.