Merovingian Cross from Moselkern

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stele from Moselkern in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn

The Merovingian Cross from Moselkern is a stele with Jesus and the cross from the end of the 7th century from Moselkern on the Moselle, Cochem-Zell district , Rhineland-Palatinate . It is kept in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn .

Location

The Merovingian cross on the coat of arms of Moselkern

The so-called Merovingian cross with figurative relief was found around 1800 in Moselkern in the cemetery near the parish church of St. Valerius in the ground and initially placed next to the church, where Privy Councilor Schunck, the builder of the Cochem Kaiser Wilhelm tunnel , found it in September 1915 discovered and realized its worth. The place of discovery on the cemetery wall is now identified by a replica in artificial stone and a labeled marble slab. The stone of the stele is Mayen basalt lava from the nearby basalt quarries of the Vulkaneifel .

The early Christian grave stele must be seen in connection with other finds in the Moselkern, the Roman kerna (water pipes, bathing facilities and body graves from late Roman times as well as early Christian tombstones). In the neighboring village of Müden ( Modinum ) a tombstone with Christ's monogram and inscription from the 6th century was discovered; Reference should also be made to the early Christian finds in the Karden ( Cardena ) district of the neighboring town of Treis-Karden .

description

The grave stele made from basalt lava is 80 cm high, 44 cm wide and 14 cm thick. It has a rectangular shape that tapers slightly towards the top with a gable-like finish. At the lower end there was originally a base about 30 cm. The front of the stele has two openwork fields, the lower one filled with a diagonal cross ( St. Andrew's cross ) and the upper one with an upright cross, whose arms of equal length widen steadily ( paw cross ). The diagonal cross in the lower field is square framed by recessed grooves; its cross beams with a small Greek cross at the intersection are decorated with double grooves.

The square-framed cross in the upper field shows a human figure in low relief, whose posture is adapted to the cross and its frame. The body and legs with crossed feet are carved out of the vertical cross beams. The arms bent at right angles follow the square frame; the hands with clearly spread thumbs grasp the crossbar of the cross. Despite the coarse material, the strikingly large circular head in the gable area reveals a human face with eyes, nose, mouth, hairline and beard. The head is surrounded by three small crosses in slightly recessed circular areas like a nimbus . Three more small crosses can be seen on the figure's chest and next to the hands.

On the back of the grave stele there is a small Greek cross at the point where the human face is depicted on the front. Raised and incised crosses in different shapes are also carved on the narrow sides.

Appreciation

The stele is one of the few stone monuments with a figural relief that are known from the Merovingian period. It is unique in its design and its representations. It is consistently dated to the later Merovingian period at the end of the 7th century. The Roman custom of placing stone monuments on the graves of the deceased is uncommon among Merovingians and Franks , but can still be found in the Rhenish areas with a large proportion of the Romanesque population, as is the case in numerous localities in the Central and Lower Moselle. The interpretation of the representation is difficult because there are no convincing parallels. Because of the numerous Christian cross motifs (10 Greek, 4 Latin, 2 diagonal crosses) it is obvious to see the human figure as Jesus standing upright in front of the cross, with his head and arms outside the cross beams. There are no signs of attachment of the body to the cross. Jesus is not depicted here as the crucified one, but as the redeemer of people and as ruler over the cosmos , as corresponded to the religious ideas in the Frankish church. The head of the figure is therefore disproportionately large, particularly sculpted and surrounded by three small crosses, because it should be emphasized as the "main thing" of the whole figure. The facial expression is that of a living person. This interpretation is reinforced by the structure of the stele from bottom to top: from the geometrical-symbolic shape of the diagonal cross as a cosmos to the elaborated, abstract representation of Christ to the head of Christ surrounded by three crosses, which is emphasized in its meaning through plastic formation and oversize . Victor H. Elbern summarized these observations in the catalog of the Essen exhibition of 1956:

Cross stele with figural relief, end of the 7th century, original size replica set up at the place of discovery

“One of the earliest monumental depictions of Christ crucified on the continent north of the Alps. Iconographically significant also in the context of the cosmological (as four world directions or ends) to be understood lower cross field with the crucified above. Native-continental, Mediterranean and island ideas and formal elements come together at the important monument . "

Victor H. Elbern later corrected his formulation “Christ crucified” as “Christ standing before the cross”.

An interpretation of the upper field of the stele based on more recent photographic recordings appears less convincing: With lighting from the side, one should be able to see the head and upper body of a small human figure in the upper field on the middle cross bar, with the small weathered cross at the intersection of the cross bars the head and the difficult to see shapes between the two small crosses on the crossbar would represent the outstretched arms; the hands of this figure are said to be nailed to the two crosses on the side; the small hands would be held by the large hands of the main character, who in this case had to stand outside the cross and frame the cross with their arms. Further attempts at interpretation can be found in the specialist literature.

The function of this stele has not yet been clearly established either. It is assumed that it cannot be regarded as a grave stele of private use, but rather served "as a symbol of memoria for the entire grave field".

The Merovingian Cross and the other excavations mentioned in Moselkern, Müden and Karden are important indicators of the spread of the Christian faith on the Lower Moselle , which began there around 360 from Trier . Well-known by name are the priest Lubentius von Kobern, who headed the archdeaconate Kobern on the Moselle in the 4th century , and Castor von Karden (approx. 325 to approx. 400), who lived as a priest and hermit near Karden on the Moselle.

The Merovingian Cross was recognized as a cultural monument , among other things, by being used on the cover of the exhibition catalog Becoming West on the Rhine and Ruhr , Essen 1956, as well as by being included in the coat of arms of the municipality of Moselkern and as a draft for a special stamp for the German Federal Post Office.

Iconographic classification

Christ monogram from the Catacomb of Calixtus in Rome, 4th century

Neither the simple cross nor the trunk of the cross with the crucified is one of the oldest Christian symbols. Since the end of the 2nd century, only the staurogram has been used as a symbol , a contraction of the letters T (Tau) and P (Rho) from the nomen sacrum , namely from the Greek word σταυρός = cross. After the victory of Emperor Constantine at the Mivische Bridge, the Christogram was added, consisting of the first Greek letters of the name Christ: Χ (Chi) and Ρ (Rho) in ligature . Both signs can be found on murals in the catacombs and on Christian sarcophagi of this time.

The crossed bars of a cross only become a Christian symbol after the recognition of Christianity (313) and after the cross was found in Jerusalem (320). And another 100 years pass before Jesus is depicted with the crucifix for the first time . Examples are in particular the wooden relief on the portal of the Roman basilica Santa Sabina with Jesus, who is standing in the posture of a crucified in front of the city wall of Jerusalem (c. 432), and the Italian ivory carving with Jesus on the cross (c. 435).

Crucifixion scene on the wooden portal of Santa Sabina in Rome, around 432

In both cases Jesus is shown alive, with open eyes and in a majestic posture. The Irish high crosses have been known since the 7th century, initially only ornamentally and later also with Jesus on the cross; the best-known example is the Muiredach cross (9th / 10th century).

Against this background, the special features of the so-called Merovingian Cross from Moselkern become clear: This relief does not show the dead Jesus nailed to the cross, but the living Jesus standing upright in front of the cross. The type of presentation is unprecedented; it is limited in an abstract way to the essential elements in order to illustrate the victory of Jesus Christ over death and at the same time his position as ruler over the cosmos, and that at a time that was about 250 years after the first works of art with a Crucifixus and about 100 years before the resumption of this motif by Carolingian art .

literature

  • Victor H. Elbern : The Moselkern stele and the iconography of the early Middle Ages. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 1955/1956, pp. 184–214.
  • Victor H. Elbern: Stele with Christ on the cross . In: Future West on the Rhine and Ruhr , exhibition in Villa Hügel, Essen 1956, pp. 119–120 with plate 17.
  • Ernst Wackenroder: The art monuments of the district of Cochem , part 2, Berlin 1959, pp. 602–603 and 620 as well as 420ff.
  • JA Schmoll called Eisenwerth: The Moselle from the source to the Rhine , Berlin 1963, pp. 74–75 with ill. 131.
  • Kurt Böhner: Rhenish tombs from the Merovingian period as evidence of early Franconian Christianity . In: Victor H. Elbern (ed.): The first millennium - culture and art in the emerging West on the Rhine and Ruhr , Volume II, Düsseldorf 1964, p. 661ff.
  • Gertrud Schiller : Iconography of Christian Art. Volume 2, Gütersloh, 2nd edition 1983, p. 114f.
  • Angela Bormann: The Moselkern stele . In: Josef Engemann and Christoph B. Rüger (eds.): Late antiquity and early Middle Ages - Selected Monuments in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn (Art and Antiquity on the Rhine, Volume 134), Cologne 1991, pp. 52–57.
  • J. Giesler: The stone from Moselkern . In: Frank Günter Zehnder (ed.): 100 Pictures and Objects - Archeology and Art in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn , Cologne 1999, pp. 133-136.
  • Cliff Alexander Jost: Moselkern: Early medieval grave stele . In: Hans-Helmut Wegner (ed.): Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany , Volume 46: Cochem-Zell, Landschaft an der Mosel , Stuttgart 2005, pp. 149–151.
  • Sebastian Ristow : Early Christianity in the Rhineland. The evidence of the archaeological and historical sources on the Rhine, Maas and Mosel , Cologne 2007, pp. 176–177 with catalog no. 357 and plate 55a.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Inv. No. 27679
  2. ↑ Replica and marble slab on the website “Architectural monuments in Moselkern.” Accessed on March 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ Ernst Wackenroder, lit. c), pp. 602–603 and 620 as well as 420ff.
  4. ↑ J. Giesler, Lit. h), pp. 133-136.
  5. ↑ Sebastian Ristow, lit. j), pp. 176–177 and catalog no. 357.
  6. ↑ Cliff Alexander Jost, lit. i), p. 151.
  7. ↑ Victor H. Elbern. Lit. a), pp. 184ff.
  8. ↑ Victor H. Elbern, lit. b), pp. 119–120 with illustration 17.
  9. ↑ J. Giesler, Lit. h), pp. 135-136.
  10. ↑ Victor H. Elbern. Lit. a), pp. 197-214. Kurt Böhner, lit. e), p. 661ff.
  11. ↑ Sebastian Ristow, lit. j), p. 177.
  12. ↑ LCI 7, 411ff. and 287 with references and references.
  13. ↑ LCI 2, 571ff. and 607ff. LThK 6, 448ff. and 461ff. Gertrud Schiller, lit.f), p. 98ff. with Figs. 323, 326–327.
  14. ↑ Gertrud Schiller, lit.f), p. 114 with Fig. 353.