Image: JuengeresMathildenkreuz

Description: The second "Mathilda Cross" given by Mathilda, Abbess of Essen from 973 to her death in 1011, now in the Treasury of Essen Minster (with other items given by Mathilde). She is shown with the Virgin and Child in the enamel plaque at the base of the front. The cross was probably made in Cologne or Essen in the years before her death. Mathilda or Mathilde was a member of the Ottonian imperial family, the grand-daughter of Otto the Great and sister of Otto, Duke of Bavaria and Swabia (d 982). The corpus (body) is a replacement from later in the century. The cross re-uses classical engraved gems and cameos. Enamel roundels at the ends of the arms show Sol and Luna (personifications of the Sun and Moon). The back is a plain gold plate engraved with an Agnus Dei in the centre and the Envangelists' symbols at the ends of the members, all in roundels amid decoration of dots and foliage motifs. See: Lasko, Peter, Ars Sacra, 800-1200, Penguin History of Art (now Yale), p. 101 & 103, 1972 (nb, 1st edn.) ISBN14056036X
Title: JuengeresMathildenkreuz
Credit: Own work
Author: Sir Gawain
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes