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The picture shows a detail of an antependium from Basel.
A humanized style of representation and an understanding of drawing and relief reappeared in the north first in metalwork, and from there found their way into stone sculpture. In Ottonian Germany the understanding of three-dimensional form had been kept alive through the techniques of repoussé metalwork, many examples of which are to be found in church treasuries. This splendid gold antependium, presented by Emperor Henry II to the Cathedral of Basel between 1014 and 1022, was probably made in Mainz between 1002 and 1019. The two archangels, who stand out boldly against the background, are treated with a classical feeling for plastic form.
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