Triumphal cross

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Triumphal cross with Maria (left) and Johannes as assistance figures in the church of Öja
Rood screen with triumphal cross in the monastery church of Wechselburg in Saxony

A triumphal cross (Latin crux triumphalis ), regionally (Austrian) also called fron arch cross , is a monumental crucifix that was part of the furnishings of larger medieval churches, where it was attached in a high position in front of the choir, often accompanied by other figures. The term refers to the triumph of the risen Christ ( Christ triumphans ) over death.

history

Hugo von St. Viktor , a theologian from Saxony, describes for the first time in the first half of the 12th century that a crux triumphalis , a triumphal cross, is usually erected in the middle of the church . This corresponds to the fact that the first monumental crucifixion groups appear around the middle of the 12th century. The original location of the triumphal cross is the border between the choir (presbytery) and the nave (lay church). There it hangs under the triumphal arch , the entrance arch of the choir, or stands in the same place on a crossbeam. If the choir is separated from the church interior by a rood screen , the triumphal cross stands on it. The cross altar is often located under the triumphal cross . After the end of the Middle Ages, the previously paramount importance of this type of image is lost, just as the rood screens often associated with it have disappeared from the churches since the Council of Trent .

Change of the Christ image

In the Romanesque the crucified Christ was depicted as ruler and judge. Instead of a crown of thorns, he wears a royal crown or a halo , on his feet he wears “shoes” as a sign of the ruler. He is victorious over death. He stands face to face with the viewer, his feet are parallel to each other on the suppedaneum ( four-nail type ) and not on top of each other. The loincloth is strongly stylized and falls in vertical folds.

In the transition to Gothic , the triumphant Christ becomes the suffering Christ, the pitiful Man of Sorrows. The ruler's crown is replaced by the crown of thorns , the feet stand on top of each other from around 1220 (in Italy from around 1275) and are pierced with only one nail. The facial expression and posture express his pain. The wounds to the body are often depicted drastically. These signs of suffering were increased in the 14th century, but did not achieve the expressiveness of forked crucifixes , which, in contrast to the representative triumphal cross, were more used for private devotion. The assistant figures Maria and Johannes also show signs of pain.

Triumphal cross groups

A triumphal cross can be accompanied by other figures, the group then stands on a rood screen or a beam. Occasionally this bearer is also adorned with other figures, for example apostles. As monumental persons, Mary and John, the “favorite disciple”, come into question (based on the Gospel of John Joh 19.25–27  EU , parr Mt 27.25f  EU , Mk 15.40f  EU and Lk 23.49  EU ), but also apostles, angels and donors. Many a monumental crucifix from the Middle Ages that has lost its accompanying figures and has been moved to another location will have served as a triumphal cross; Likewise, many of the lonely grieving Maria and Johannes groups originally come from this iconographic context. Some typical figure programs are listed below as examples:

  • The triumphal cross above the rood screen in Halberstadt Cathedral (around 1230) is not only flanked by Maria and Johannes, but also by two cherubs .
  • In the case of the triumphal cross in the monastery church in Wechselburg (around 1230/35), the group of figures is expanded and related to the figure program of the rood screen.
  • The triumphal cross in the collegiate church Bücken (around 1220 to 1270) stands on an apostolic beam, the crucified is accompanied by Mary and John, who stand on personifications of Jews and paganism, as well as two holy bishops, at the ends of the cross God the Father, at the side angels, below the three women at the grave.
  • The triumphal cross from the end of the 13th century in the church of Öja / Gotland, flanked by Maria and Johannes, has the rare shape of a disc cross, in the round of which scenes from salvation history are depicted.
  • The triumphal cross in Schwerin Cathedral , around 1420, is also flanked by Maria and Johannes. At the end of the cross beams, from which leaves sprout and thus transform the wood into the tree of life , the evangelist symbols can be seen.
  • The triumphal cross erected in 1477 in Lübeck Cathedral by Bernt Notke , perhaps the most important late Gothic triumphal cross group, extends the range of mourners to include the donor bishop and St. Maria Magdalena.

Regional particularities

Eastern Germany obviously played a special role in the early development of the image type. In the 14th century the density of monuments is particularly high in the Rhine-Maas area. Probably inspired by the unique Soest Disc Cross (around 1210) and formally related to the high stone crosses on the British Isles are the 26 large disc and ring crosses in Gotland country churches such as Alskog , Alva , Ekeby , Hemse , Linde , Öja , Väte and Stenkumla . Among them, Öja stands out, including those in Hamra , Fröjel , Fide , Stänga and the largest of its kind in Lau . In Eskelhem and Klinte they are actually disks, in all other cases they are ring crosses. Italy also knows carved wooden crucifixes, but the painted cross panel predominates here in the function of the triumphal cross. The few carved triumphal crosses of the 12th century were probably made under German or French influence. No early triumphal cross has survived from England, but the existence of one has been proven for Canterbury as early as 1077. Also in France, also for religious reasons, only a few triumphal crosses have survived.

Representative examples

  • The 800 year old cross in the church of Stenkumla on Gotland shows the origin of the name (Christ triumphans): the crucified one wears “shoes” and a crown.

  • Cross from the church of Linde on Gotland (today in the museum in Stockholm) also shows the ruler's marks and makes the name understandable

  • Triumphal Cross by Notke in Lübeck Cathedral

  • Triumphal Cross (Christ's side) in the Doberan Minster

  • Triumphal cross of the Christ Church Flensburg - Mürwik from the 16th century

Germany

Triumphal cross in the hermit chapel Ermita del Humilladero in Sasamón , Spain (1504)

Spain

  • Triumphal cross in the hermit chapel Ermita del Humilladero (or Ermita de San Isidro ) in Sasamón

literature

  • Manuela Beer: Triumphal Crosses of the Middle Ages. A contribution to type and genesis in the 12th and 13th centuries. With a catalog of the preserved monuments . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1755-4
  • "The Savior on the Cross: The Crucifix" , changes in the depiction of the crucifix and the triumphal cross

Web links

Commons : Triumphal Cross  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Triumph crucifixes  - collection of images, videos and audio files
redaktioneller Hinweis: bitte die beiden Kategorien zusammenführen
Wiktionary: Triumphal Cross  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Front arch or triumphal crosses
  2. ↑ Margarete Luise Goecke-Seischab / Jörg Ohlemacher: Explore churches, develop churches , Ernst Kaufmann, Lahr 1998, p. 232
  3. ^ Hugo de St. Victore: Speculum de mysterio Ecclesiae , in: Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia latina , Vol. CLXXVII, Col. 377-378
  4. ↑ Torsten Droste: Romanesque Art in France, DuMont Art Travel Guide, Cologne 1992 (2), p. 32f
  5. ↑ Forms of Art. Part II. Art in the Middle Ages, edited by Wilhelm Drixelius, Verlag M. Lurz, Munich o. JS 71 u. P. 88
  6. ^ Leonie Reygers, Apostelbalken, in: Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte, Vol. I (1935), Col. 829–01; in: RDK laboratory here digital [8. October 2018]
  7. ^ Wolf-Herbert Deus: Disc crosses in Soest, Gotland and elsewhere. Soest 1967.
  8. ^ Peter H. Brieger: Englands Contribution to the Origin and Developmeent of the Triumphal Cross , in: Medieval Studies 3, 1941/42, pp. 85–96, here p. 86.
  9. ↑ Ev.-Luth. Inner city municipality of Itzehoe, St. Laurentii