Servatius Cross
The Servatius Cross , or Pectoral Cross of St. Servatius , is a medieval goldsmith's work that is kept in the church treasury of St. Servatius Basilica in Maastricht . The reliquary cross, which is not completely preserved, is usually attributed to the so-called Egbert workshop of Bishop Egbert von Trier , which is probably a late work.
history
Based on the inscription, the origin of the cross is presumed to be in Trier . The Felix and Paulinus named in the inscription were bishops of Trier and appear on the Trier Petrus rod , like the Pope Cornelius , who is also named . Shortly before Egbert's death in 993, the St. Servatii Abbey came into Trier possession. Because of this, it was assumed that the cross was made in the Trier Egbert workshop before 993.
Today it is mostly assumed that the Servatius Cross was made in the second quarter of the 11th century, probably on behalf of Heinrich III. who gave the cross possible in 1039 at the consecration of the new building of St. Servatius and his enthronement three days later . In any case, since the beginning of the 16th century, but probably earlier, it was considered the pectoral cross of St. Servatius . Perhaps a small golden pectoral cross that is said to have been found on the body of the saint was mounted on that larger reliquary cross in the 11th century. After a miraculous healing ascribed to this Servatius pectoral cross (perhaps Heinrich the Rich of Bavaria ), the king's chapel was built around 1465 on the north side of the choir of St. Servatius.
description
The cross is 16.2 cm high and 11.2 cm wide. It consists of a wooden core, which is covered with thin gold sheet on the front and thin silver sheet on the back. The front side of the cross wearing a crucifix of ivory and gold filigree , precious stones, antique a gem as well as email platelets . On the front, the central crucifix, from which the feet are missing, is surrounded by a narrow frame made of high, rounded stones and elongated enamel plates. Above the crucifix, below a T-shaped gold plate, as well as to the left and right of the arm ends, there is a larger cabochon , below an empty field below the crucifix there is an antique gem. All decorative elements and the contour of the cross are framed by pearl wire. On the back of the cross is the inscription + SUB HA / C CRUCE C (O) NTI / NENTUR RELI (QUIE) DE LIGNO D (OMI) NI / DE SEPULCHRO D (OMI) NI DE /… /… A, embossed in silver ... S (ANCTI) LAURENTII S (ANCTI) FELICIS EP (ISCOP) I / S (ANCTI) PAULINIEP (ISCOP) IS (ANCTI) C (OR) / (N) ELII PAPE S (AN) C (T) I / PAULINI DIA (CONI).
The e-mails
A total of 13 enamel plates belong to the Servatius cross, which are made in full melt technology. All are rectangular, but of different lengths and show several four-petalled flowers next to each other: six enamels have three flowers, four enamels have two and three enamel leaves each one and a half. The petals don't always point in the same directions. The base of the enamels is translucent , partly blue, partly green, with green and blue bases alternating, only on the right arm of the cross there are two blue bases next to each other above the arm of Christ. The colors of the petals are opaque , there are yellow, white and turquoise-blue petals. An order of the petal colors cannot be determined, but yellow petals only appear on blue-ground enamels and white petals only on green-ground enamels. Technically, the enamels are rather simple, the gold bars are thick, the petals are distributed asymmetrically in the ground and of different sizes. The colors, especially white and yellow, are sometimes unclean.
Art historical findings
The attribution to the Egbertwerkstatt remains controversial. Due to the noticeably lower quality of the enamels of the Servatius Cross compared to the St. Peter rod, the book cover of the Codex aureus Epternacensis or the enamels of the Otto Mathilden Cross , this is regarded either as an early work or as a late work of the workshop. Sybille Eckenfels-Kunst described it as a “hodgepodge of different pieces” that may have been reused. For a second use of the enamels, the enamels with the half blossoms speak in particular, as there are no motivic reasons for this sawing to size. Koldeweij means the ivory crucifix comes from the workshop of the so-called Echternach master (Trier, 1020-1040).
literature
- Sybille Eckenfels-Kunst: Gold enamels. Studies on Ottonian and Early Salian gold cell melts , Pro Business Verlag, Berlin 2008 (also Diss. Stuttgart 2004)
- AM Koldeweij: Der gude Sente Servas , Van Gorcum, Assen / Maastricht 1985
- Franz J. Ronig (Ed.): Egbert - Archbishop of Trier 977–993. Commemorative writing of the Diocese of Trier on the 1000th anniversary of death. Catalog of the exhibition of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier 1993, ISBN 3-923319-27-4 (Volume 1, Catalog No. 47)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Koldeweij, p. 179.
- ↑ Koldeweij, pp. 184-187, 343.
- ↑ Translation: In this cross the relics of the wooden cross of the Lord are held from the tomb of the Lord, of ... of St. Laurentius, of St. Felix, Bishop, of Paulus, Bishop, of St. Cornelius, Pope, and of St. Paulinus , Deacon. Koldeweij, p. 178.
- ↑ Eckenfels-Kunst, p. 54