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.
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