Frauenfeld miter
The Frauenfeld miter from the Kreuzlingen monastery is one of the few works of art that goes back directly to the time of the Council of Constance (1414–1418). It is owned by the Historisches Museum Thurgau and exhibited in Schloss Frauenfeld .
history
The antipope John XXIII. was on the way to the council in Constance in 1414 with his entourage. He spent the last night before his splendid entry to the council in the monastery of Kreuzlingen . In gratitude for his hospitality, the Pope granted Abbot Erhart Lind the right to wear a miter and staff.
The abbot or his successor then had a particularly magnificent bishop's cap made. A goldsmith from Constance probably made the basic metal construction of the miter in his workshop. The embroidery was made separately and then fitted. They may have originated in a monastery and have been renewed again and again later.
Even if the Frauenfeld miter did not come to Lake Constance as a gift from the Pope himself, this made it possible for the prestigious work of art to be commissioned later to underline the position of the Kreuzlingen monastery as the most powerful monastery in the region. In 1848 the canton of Thurgau appropriated the miter in the course of the abolition of the monasteries, but - unlike other monastery inventory - it was not auctioned. The miter has been in Frauenfeld Castle since 1960 and is the most precious treasure of the Thurgau Historical Museum.
In 2014, the miter was the central exhibit of the exhibition “The Council of Constance 1414–1418 - World Event in the Middle Ages”. For the anniversary of the Council, restorers from the Abegg Foundation in Riggisberg and metal restorer Hans-Joachim Bleier cleaned, restored and preserved the miter. Scientific examinations of the object revealed that the miter was not brought from Italy, but was made in southern Germany.
description
The basic construction of the miter consists of cast and chased silver that has been engraved, hallmarked and fire-gilded . The shape is typical of a bishop's cap of the time, in the choice of materials and the delicacy of the goldsmith's work it is more reminiscent of the headgear of a secular ruler. Only the preciousness of the materials and the effort involved in processing allow conclusions to be drawn about the economic importance and the power and church political claims of the monastery.
The miter picks up elements from the Gothic treasure trove of forms, such as the graceful crabs , five each on both edges of the front and back, the crowning finials , the ornamental bands from rectangular fields with acanthus tendrils that form the browband (circle) and that are held together by hinges becomes.
Ulrich and Afra , the patron saints of the Kreuzlingen monastery, are depicted twice - as pearl embroidery and on the ribbon with enamel images, which runs vertically across the front of the miter. They can be recognized by their attributes: Ulrich has a fish, Afra carries the martyr's palm .
An email shows a cross and abbot, the coat of arms of the Kreuzlingen monastery. Hundreds of pearls were sewn onto a linen ground with threads of silk and linen for the pearl reliefs. The beadwork was renewed again and again, a sign of its continued use and the great importance of the miter for the monastery.
The gemstones are all additions from the 19th or 20th century, almost all of which have been replaced by glass stones. It could be that the original stones from the Kreuzlingen monastery were turned into money in difficult times. The two ribbons on the back of the miter are also made of gold-plated metal.
literature
- Elke Jezler (ed.): Visual culture and political change - the southern Lake Constance area in the late Middle Ages between Habsburg, Empire and Confederation: Contributions to the international conference of the Thurgau Historical Museum from 16./17. January 2014. Constance 2015.
Web links
- Mitra website
- Highlights. Website of the Thurgau Historical Museum