Hermann Ida Cross
The Hermann Ida Cross , often referred to as the Heriman Cross , is a lecture cross that is now in the Diocesan Museum in Cologne . The cross, which was created in the 11th century , was named after Archbishop Hermann von Köln and his sister Ida , abbess of the Cologne women's community St. Maria im Kapitol , who are depicted on it.
description
The cross is 33.3 cm high and 28 cm wide. It is a Latin cross with a square extension at the intersection of the cross bars. The nodus and the cartridge for holding the rod when used as a presentation cross are baroque additions.
The front of the cross is badly damaged, the ornaments on the outer ends are missing. The crucifix is cast from bronze and gold-plated. Christ is shown as a living person, the body is turned slightly to the right, the upper body looks tired. The arms are pulled, the stomach bulging and compressed, the thumbs hang down and the head is tilted to the right. The head, a gem of Livilla , sister of the Roman emperor Claudius , cut from lapis lazuli , is an ancient spoiler . The crucifix is backed with filigree , which dates from the 13th century.
The back of the cross is better preserved. It is covered with gilded copper sheet in which the figures and inscriptions are engraved. A rock crystal occupies the intersection of the cross beams. In the upper and side crutches of the cross there are engraved allegorical figures that symbolize the three main Christian virtues of faith, love and hope, with the depiction of love at the end of the trunk of the cross. One of the three plates has been lost; in its place you can see a recess in the wood of the cross, which was intended to hold relics . Corresponding recesses are found in all crutches and in the square field in the middle of the cross. The crutch on the cross base and the cross stem take up the donor image of the cross. The lower crutch is divided by a central, vertical lettering HERIMANNVS . To the right of this inscription is the founder Herimann, kneeling, who is identified as bishop by a staff, but does not wear episcopal vestments. To the left of the inscription is an engraved figure of a woman in the clothes of a religious, with the name Ida scratched over her head . Both kneel at the feet of a standing figure of Mary , whose feet Ida humbly touches. Maria wears an undergarment, which is depicted with two horizontal and one vertical decorative stripes, over which she wears a cloak that she has wrapped around her head like a veil. Mary's hands are raised in prayer; it is a representation as Maria orans , which is rare in Europe. In the upper trunk of the cross there is the donor's inscription HERIMANN ARCHIEPS ME FIERI IVSSIT (Archbishop Herimann ordered that I be made).
research
The Diocesan Museum Cologne received the cross in 1893 from the estate of Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Johann Baudri (1803-1893). Due to the depicted Hermann and Ida as well as Maria as the recipient of the foundation, it is assumed that the cross comes from the furnishings of the Cologne collegiate church of St. Maria in the Capitol , which was magnificently expanded by the siblings Hermann and Ida from the Ezzonen family and has a Marian patronage . The dating of the cross around 1040 is based on three certain events: In 1036 Hermann was ordained bishop and Ida was appointed abbess of St. Maria in the Capitol; the consecration of the church, which they jointly expanded, took place in 1049. In the directory of the Cologne church inventory of Johannes Gelenius from 1645, the cross is not recorded, its history between production and reappearance in the 19th century remains obscure. The filigree from the 13th century, as well as the nodus and cartouche that were added later, are evidence of multiple modifications and repairs; At times, the crucifix was even mounted on today's back, which shows the corresponding traces of attachment.
The front of the cross originally corresponded to a combination of a gem cross with a crucifix similar to the Essen Otto Mathilden Cross or the Essen younger Mathilden Cross . However, due to the losses, the original appearance of the front cannot be reconstructed. A connection between the Hermann Ida Cross and the younger Mathildenkreuz, which is a foundation of the sister Hermanns and Idas, the Essen abbess Theophanu , is suspected. The Essener Cross also has a cast crucifix with Christ standing on a pedestal and showing a slight rotation of the upper body to the right with very stretched arms and a head tilt to the right. Because of these similarities, it is assumed that the two crucifixes were made in a workshop either in Werden or in Cologne. Both crucifixes are in the drawing of the upper body in the tradition of the Cologne Gero cross , which was also received in Essen, so that based on the Gero cross it cannot be concluded that the crucifixes were cast. With the Hermann Ida Cross, the head of the crucifix made of blue lapis lazuli, which is skillfully connected to the cast body, is particularly striking. The use of an antique gem at the intersection of the cross beams is not unusual with Ottonian crosses, both the Aachen Lothark Cross and a cross donated by Heinrich II for the Basel Minster (today in the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts ) bear gems at the intersection. The Hermann Ida Cross stands in this tradition with the use of an ancient spoiler. The fact that the gem originally showed a woman from the Roman imperial family should no longer have been known to the person who commissioned the cross. The gem was probably used on the one hand because of its age and on the other hand because of its color. In connection with the theologian Beda Venerabilis, who was highly valued in the early Middle Ages, blue was considered the color of heavenly glory. In addition to this connection to the imperial tradition through the use of the gem, the commissioner of the Hermann Ida Cross emphasizes his relationship to the empire through the choice of the cross shape: The shape corresponds exactly to that of the Imperial Cross of the Holy Roman Empire .
A parallel to the Imperial Cross, which was a reliquary for the Imperial relics, is also formed by the cavities on the back of the cross. Although the wood of the Hermann Ida cross was renewed sometime before 1893, it is likely that these indentations were also originally present in the wood. The connection between cross and reliquary can be found more frequently in the epoch, for example in the Essener Theophanu-Kreuz or the Borghorster Stiftskreuz . The picture of the donor on the reverse has two peculiarities. Initially, the name of the nun is not integrated into the image program, it is added later. It is possible that Hermann had the cross made without knowing for which Marienkirche it was intended. Several of his sisters were in charge of monasteries with Marian patronage, such as Ida and Theophanu in Essen. The foundation transfers the kneeling female figure to the Blessed Mother as the actual recipient. The second peculiarity is that Hermann is depicted with a bishop's staff, but without episcopal regalia. Several interpretations are possible for this. Hermann, like the Essen abbess Mathilde , could have chosen the image without regalia for her image on the donor's picture of the Otto Mathilden Cross, in order to emphasize the character of a private foundation as a family member of the Ezzone and not as a bishop of Cologne. Another interpretation is that Hermann had the cross made between his investiture by the ruler, during which the bishop's staff was handed over to him, and his episcopal ordination and clothing. According to this interpretation, the cross would have been made around 1036. The connection between the iconographic program of the cross and that of the later construction of the church of St. Maria im Kapitol speaks against this thesis.
The cross was probably made for the consecration of the altar of St. Mary in the Capitol in 1049, which was carried out by Pope Leo IX. in the presence of Emperor Heinrich III. was made. The depiction of the basic virtues on the cross placed this in a larger context within the Church of St. Mary in the Capitol. Part of the coronation ritual of the German kings was that after the coronation in Aachen they prayed in St. Maria in the Capitol, while they moved into the church through the preserved carved wooden door . The pictorial program on the wooden door contrasts the ideal Christian ruler with the unchristian rule of Herod and thus reminded the newly crowned of his duties as a Christian ruler. When the king moved in, the Hermann Ida cross with its depiction of the Christian virtues was carried in front of the king and these virtues were kept in mind.
literature
- Klaus Gereon Beuckers : The Ezzonen and their foundations , LIT Verlag, Münster 1993, ISBN 3-89473-953-3
- Ulrike Surmann: The Herimanns and Idas Cross , Diözesanmuseum Köln, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3870340606
