Collection record · Belief & ritual
Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude
The collection record classifies this work as metalwork. It is dated c. 1045. Recorded culture or place: Germany, Lower Saxony?, Romanesque period, 11th century.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude
- Date
- c. 1045
- Culture / origin
- Germany, Lower Saxony?, Romanesque period, 11th century
- Materials and technique
- gold, cloisonné enamel, porphyry, gems, pearls, niello, wood core
- Dimensions
- Overall: 10.5 x 27.5 x 21 cm (4 1/8 x 10 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1931.462
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Commissioned by Countess Gertrude of Brunswick, this portable altar is one of the Guelph Treasure’s earliest and most sumptuous objects. The choice of white-speckled porphyry as the altar stone signals Gertrude’s worldly aspirations; an imperial color since classical antiquity, porphyry was only used by the imperial family. Historical figures of royal and imperial rank are depicted with Christ, the Virgin, apostles, and archangels along the altar’s sides, stressing the countess’s political ambitions and claim of imperial lineage for her own dynasty. The Latin inscription surrounding the altar stone reads, "Gertrude offers to Christ, to live joyfully in him, this stone that glistens with gems and gold."
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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