The front side (Kaiserseite, "imperial side") of the Cross of Lothair (left). Back of the cross, with engraved crucifixion (right).
The Cross of Lothair or Lothair Cross (German: Lotharkreuz) is a crux gemmata (jewelled cross) processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its base dates from the 14th century. It was made in Germany, probably at Cologne.[1] It is an outstanding example of medieval goldsmith's work, and "an important monument of imperial ideology",[2] forming part of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, which includes several other masterpieces of sacral Ottonian art. The measurements of the original portion are 50 cm height, 38.5 cm width, 2.3 cm depth.
The cross comes from the period when Ottonian art was evolving into Romanesque art, and the engraved crucifixion on the reverse looks forward to the later period.
^Calkins, p. 115; agreement on the approximate date is unanimous among the works cited, except for Lasko p. 101, who sees no need to date it later than the 980s, and also describes it as an "altar cross"
The CrossofLothair or LothairCross (German: Lotharkreuz) is a crux gemmata (jewelled cross) processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its...
Benjamin Disraeli Lothair (clipper), a ship built in Britain in 1870 M. Lothaire, pseudonym of a group of mathematicians CrossofLothairLothair Crystal Lothar...
the Crossof Justin II (6th century, in the Vatican Museums), the 'crumpled cross' in the Staffordshire Hoard (8th century), the CrossofLothair (10th...
early examples include the Crossof Justin II (possibly a hanging votive cross originally), CrossofLothair, and Crossof Cong. In the Eastern Orthodox...
including the CrossofLothair (still used today on special occasions), the Aachen Altar, the Carolingian Treasury Gospels, a masterpiece of medieval illumination...
design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as...
chalices and other pieces, crosses like the CrossofLothair and treasure bindings for books. However this is largely an accident of survival, as the church...
Aachen cathedral has a number of valuable artifacts, such as the CrossofLothair and the Treasury Gospels. Collections of personal treasures, where the...
Lothair Crystal (also known as the Lothar Crystal or the Susanna Crystal) is an engraved gem from Lotharingia in northwest Europe, showing scenes of the...
including the CrossofLothair, Bust of Charlemagne and the Persephone sarcophagus. The Cathedral Treasury in Aachen is regarded as one of the most important...
knots. Examples of such decoration can be seen in the Victoria and Albert, and British Museums. Examples include the CrossofLothair in Aachen.[citation...
medieval object, as with another cameo of Augustus used as a centrepiece for the CrossofLothair. A staff of some kind, perhaps a sceptre or spear shaft...
king of East Francia in the collegiate church built by Charlemagne. During the reign of Otto II, the nobles revolted and the West Franks under Lothair raided...
Early Western examples include the Gero Cross and the reverse of the CrossofLothair, both from the end of the 10th century. Marie-Madeleine Davy (1977)...
when they crossed the Pomerium—the sacred boundary of Rome—and entered the city. In these situations, Augustus would have power as part of his tribunician...
Victory Cross (Asturian and Spanish: Cruz de la Victoria) is an early 10th century Asturian crux gemmata or jewelled cross, given by King Alfonso III of Asturias...
1976. As in the rest of Europe, metalwork was still the most prestigious form of art, in works like the jewelled CrossofLothair, made about 1000, probably...
The Crossof Theophanu (German: Theophanu-Kreuz) is one of four Ottonian processional crosses in the Essen Cathedral Treasury and is among the most significant...
The Crossof Cong (Irish: Cros Chonga, "the yellow baculum") is an early 12th-century Irish Christian ornamented cusped processional cross, which was,...
Great Cameo of France in Paris, the Blacas Cameo in the British Museum, and the portrait now re-used in the CrossofLothair. The existence of a "State workshop"...
authority over Pamplona and the Basques south of the Pyrenees in 812. As emperor, he included his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin and Louis, in the government and...
material. The Lothair Crystal (or Suzanna Crystal, British Museum, 11.5 cm diameter), clearly not designed for use as a seal, is the best known of 20 surviving...
reverse of the Cross ofLothair, both from the end of the 10th century. The first of these is the earliest near life-size sculpted cross to survive, and in...
Archbishop of Cologne; and finally, Gerberga of Saxony, Queen of France. Gerberga was the wife of Louis IV, King of France and mother ofLothairof France...
Ottonian jewelled crosses. Through their double ridges and triangles, the trapezoidal extensions are very close to those ofCrossofLothair in Aachen, which...
examples had been incorporated into medieval jewelled objects such as the CrossofLothair. In particular, imperial portrait cameos like the Gemma Augustea had...
(died 1011), and a fourth cross, the Theophanu Cross came some fifty years later. The CrossofLothair (Aachen) and Imperial Cross (Vienna) were imperial...
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