Odo of Metz

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Reconstruction of the Aachen Palatine Chapel without later additions
Oratorio by Germigny-des-Prés

Odo von Metz was a Franconian master builder who lived at the time of Charlemagne and on whose behalf he built the chapel of the Aachen royal palace . It was consecrated in 798 and formed the central structure of Aachen Cathedral . Odo's existence and work are only known through an inscription, which in turn has been handed down in a collective manuscript from the 9th or 10th century.

In addition to the Aachen Palatine Chapel, he is said to have been responsible for the oratorio of Germigny-des-Prés , which was completed in 806. It is also sometimes claimed that he was of Armenian origin. Josef Strzygowski had the thesis of possible Armenian models of the Palatine Chapel, which, however, was not accepted in art historical research.

In the 1980s, however, an Armenian architect was doing research in Aachen Cathedral, who discovered an Armenian inscription. The translation should read: “Odo, who came from Metz, comes from the land where Noah's ark stranded on the Holy Mountain.” This refers to Mount Ararat , but there is no evidence for this thesis.

literature

  • Günther Binding : Odo von Metz. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 1360.
  • Albert Dietl: The language of the signature. The medieval artist's inscriptions of Italy. Volume 4: Catalog of non-Italian artist inscriptions from the Middle Ages. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2009, p. 1821 No. B 2.

Remarks

  1. ^ Vienna, Austrian National Library, Cod. 969, fol. 55v: Philipp Jaffé (ed.): Monumenta Carolina . (= Bibliotheca rerum Germanicarum , Volume 4) Berlin 1867, p. 536 note 1 ; Helga Giersiepen: The inscriptions of the Aachen cathedral (= The German inscriptions , Volume 31). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-88226-511-6 , no. 11a ( full text ): Insignem hanc dignitatis aulam Karolus caesar magnus instituit; egregius Odo magister explevit; Metensi fotus in urbe quiescit .
  2. ↑ Francis DK Ching; Mark M. Jarzombek; Vikramaditya Prakash: A Global History of Architecture. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey 2007 ISBN 9781118007396 p. 317 "In 806-811, the Armenian architect, Oton Matsaetsi, built the church of Germigny-des-Prés in France."
  3. ↑ Cf. Paul Naredi-Rainer: A monument conservation intervention from the outside: Josef Strzygowski and the Aachen Cathedral. In: Marjan Cescutti and Josef Riedmann (eds.): Receiving and researching. Festschrift for Helmut Stampfer. (= Schlern writings 361). Wagner, Innsbruck 2013 ISBN 978-3-7030-0820-7 , pp. 439–451, here especially pp. 447–450.
  4. ↑ "Aachen was the new, second Rome" . Deutschlandfunk culture . January 25, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Odo of Metz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franconian builder
DATE OF BIRTH before 798
DATE OF DEATH 9th century