The figural and enamel decoration on all four sides of the altar is well preserved. Framed by a boarder of gold filigree, gems, and pearls, the main decoration consists of four friezes of gold repousee figures. Each figure stands under an arch. Pictured is the side panel. Here, an enamel cross is located at the center with the Emperor Constantine, his mother Helena, the Burgundian king Sigismund and the Ottonian empress Adelheid stand on either side of the cross. Their names are inscribed upon the nielloed arches under which they stand.
Gold, cloisonne enamel, red porphyry, gems, pearls, niello, oak
The altar was destined for the collegiate church of St. Blaise, which Count Liudolf (d. 1038) and his wife Gertrude (d. 1077) founded in the precinct of their castle in Brunswick. This church would serve as the burial place of the count and his family.
Countess Gertrude of Brunswick (d. 1077), wife of Count Liudolf, commissioned this work and dedicated it to St. Blaise.
This object is part of the Guelph Treasure, one of the largest ecclesiastical treasures to survive from medieval Germany. The treasure has been associated with the Guelph dynasty since the 12th c.. Several of its objects were commissioned by Gertrude.
For a detailed account the history of the Guelf Treasure, see Splendor and Devotion: The Rise of Luxury Arts.
The altar contains relics, including those of saints Bartholomew, Adelheid, Hermes, Gertrude, Marcian, Vincent, and others.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Splendor and Devotion: The Rise of Luxury Arts, Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude, Der Gertrudistragaltar aus dem Welfenschatz : eine stilgeschichtliche Untersuchung, Die Stiftungen der Gräfin Gertrud. Anspruch und Rang, Ars sacra, 800-1200, p. 214, The Sacral Treasures of the Guelphs, 36-40, Die Braunschweiger Gertrudiswerkstatt. Zur spätottonischen Goldschmiedekunst in Sachsen, Der Welfenschatz. Der Reliquienschatz des Braunschweiger Domes aus dem Besitze des herzoglichen Hauses Braunschweig-Lüneburg, 105-6, no. 4, Monuments of Romanesque art: the art of church treasures in north-western Europe, pl. 36, 40, The Acquisition of Six Objects from the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Gertrudis Altar and Two Crosses, Der Reliquienschatz des Hauses Braunschweig-Lüneburg, 129-35, no. 13.
http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/index.html
Educational usage: Images on this site may be freely used in presentations for educational, non-commercial purposes. The large versions are sized correctly for classroom projection (PowerPoint friendly). If you find my photographs useful, please link my site to your own, your class's, and/or your institution's web site. Such links increase my visibility to clients.
Commercial usage: My images may not be used commercially without written permission. Please contact me if you wish to license them for commercial purposes. Higher-resolution versions are available.
Publication: My images may not be published without written permission. Please contact me if you wish to license them for publication. Reduced licensing fees are charged for use in scholarly, non-profit journals and books. Higher-resolution versions are available.
Contact: Genevra Kornbluth
10508 Forestgate Place, Glenn Dale, MD 20769 U.S.A.
info@KornbluthPhoto.com
301-809-5518
