UNKNOWN GOLDSMITH, German
(active c. 1050 in Cologne)

Herimann Cross

c. 1050
Cast bronze, engraved and gilded, 41 x 28 cm
Erzbischofliches Diozesanmuseum, Cologne

The bronze crucifix made in the middle of the eleventh century for Herimann, Archbishop of Cologne, has on its front face the effigy of Christ. Affixed to this effigy is a head made of an intensely blue stone. On closer examination the head, with its idealised features and soft modeling, obviously comes from a culture very different from that which produced the torso. The head is, in fact, Roman and was made in the 1st century AD; it has been identified as a portrait of the Empress Livia, and was presumably incorporated into the crucifix at the request of Herimann, who is portrayed on its reverse side.