What material was the Gero Crucifix made of?
What material was the Gero Crucifix made of?
wood
The Gerocrucifix is a sculpture in the round, carved from wood, and it is also stained to add more color and depth. It was created in 970-1000 during the Ottonian era of art and was brought to the Cologne Cathedral in Germany by Archbishop Gero.
What style is the Gero Crucifix?
Probably commissioned by Archbishop Gero around 970 to stand above an altar dedicated to the Crucifixion, the Gero Cross is now set in a Baroque frame and situated north of the high altar. Carved in oak then painted and gilded, the life-size sculpture renders the dead Christ with striking naturalism.
How big is the Gero Crucifix?
187 cm
The Gero Crucifix, carved oak corpus (with contemporary nimbus and stem), before 986; in the Cologne Cathedral, Germany. Height 187 cm.
Why was the Gero Crucifix made?
The Gero Crucifix is a life-size sculpture depicting the body of Christ on the cross. Made of gilded and painted wood and meant to be suspended above an altar, the back of Christ’s head was hollowed in order to hold communion bread used in the ritual of the Eucharist.
What is an important point about the Gero crucifix?
The shape of the Gero Cross is traditional to Carolingian religious art. However, this piece puts extra emphasis on the suffering of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, with the slumped head, lifeless body, and closed eyes. Other depictions are idealized and do not show Christ as vulnerable and disfigured.
Which is the semicircular area above the door lintel of a church?
tympanum
trefoil: An ornamental form which has three lobes or foils. Compare with cinqfoil, quatrefoil. tympanum (plural, tympana): The basically semicircular area enclosed by the arch above the lintel of an arched entranceway. This area is often decorated with sculpture in the Romanesque and Gothic periods.
Is the Gero Crucifix a reliquary?
The Gero Crucifix is a sculpture depiction of a tortured Christ on the cross that is held in Cologne Cathedral in Germany and was made in 970. It is a polychrome wood sculpture that also functions as a reliquary through the head of Christ.
Is the Gero crucifix a reliquary?
Who commissioned the Gero Crucifix?
Archbishop of Cologne
It was commissioned by Gero, Archbishop of Cologne, who died in 976, thus providing a terminus ante quem for the work. It is carved in oak, and painted and partially gilded – both have been renewed.
What was the purpose of the story found on a tympanum?
Most commonly found in the pediments of Greek and Roman architecture, the tympanum often includes religious imagery that depicts a story or historic event. For example, the Parthenon, begun in 447 B.C., contains carvings representing the birth of Greek goddess Athena.
What period is the Gero Crucifix?
In Western sculpture: Carolingian and Ottonian periods The wooden “Gero Crucifix” (about 73.6 inches [187 centimetres] high; cathedral of Cologne), which was carved before 986, already reveals a certain realism in the representation of the shape of the body, in contrast to the contemporary crucifix of Gerresheim (before 1000).
What is the history of the Gero Cross?
The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (German: Gero-Kreuz ), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Gero, Archbishop of Cologne, who died in 976, thus providing a terminus ante quem for…
What is the oldest crucifix in the world?
The Gero Cross. The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (German: Gero-Kreuz ), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Gero, Archbishop of Cologne, who died in 976, thus providing a terminus ante quem for the work.
What is the oldest cross in the world?
Gero Cross. The Gero Cross. The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (German: Gero-Kreuz), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
