Hildesheim Portable Altar
Altar
ca. 1160-1170 (made)
ca. 1160-1170 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The altar has long been thought to have been made for Cathedral of Hildesheim since St Godehard, Bishop of Hildesheim appears promminently. Hildesheim in Lower Saxony was a crucially important centre of medieval ecclesiastical patronage in an area renowned particularly for its metalworking skill. The cathedral and its treasury remain one of the great manifestations of the medieval arts in Europe.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Hildesheim Portable Altar (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Porphyry, framed in wood, with plates of gilt copper and partially gilded, embellished with vernis brun. |
| Brief description | Gilt copper on wood, and porphyry, Germany. 12th century. |
| Physical description | A portable consecrated tablet for use as an altar. An oblong slab of porphyry, framed in wood and covered, wholly on one side and partially on the other, with plates of gilt copper; engraved on both sides. The gilt copper plaque around the edge of the top face shows twelve saints, Mary and the following scenes from the life of Christ: the Nativity, the Crucifixion, the three Maries at the Sepulchre, the Ascension and Christ in Majesty. Amongst the saints represented the most noteable is Bishop Godehard of Hildesheim. The base of the altar shows the Trinity, with saints St Boniface, St Pancras, St Peter, St Paul and at the base of the cross St Simplicius and St Faustinus. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | C(ON)TINENTUR. HIC. EORUM. RELIQIE. QUORUM, IMAGINES. SVP. L(apidem). INFRA. SCULPTE. ST. ET S EORUM. LAURENTII. KYLIANI. GEORGII. OSWALDI. SEBASTIANI. MARURITII, THEBEORUM. MARTYRM. DIONISII. GREGORII. NICOLAI. MARTINI. LUCIE TE CLE XI MILIA. Virgines (The inscriptions allude to the numerous saints' relics within the altar.) |
| Historical context | The altar has long been thought to have been made for Cathedral of Hildesheim since St Godehard, Bishop of Hildesheim appears promminently. Hildesheim in Lower Saxony was a crucially important centre of medieval ecclesiastical patronage in an area renowned particularly for its metalworking skill. The cathedral and its treasury remain one of the great manifestations of the medieval arts in Europe. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The altar has long been thought to have been made for Cathedral of Hildesheim since St Godehard, Bishop of Hildesheim appears promminently. Hildesheim in Lower Saxony was a crucially important centre of medieval ecclesiastical patronage in an area renowned particularly for its metalworking skill. The cathedral and its treasury remain one of the great manifestations of the medieval arts in Europe. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 10-1873 |
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| Record created | August 12, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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