PRE-ROMANESQUE SCULPTOR, Italian
(active 740s in Lombardy)

Altar of Duke Ratchis (front)

739-744
Carsic stone
Christian Museum and Treasury, Cathedral, Cividale del Friuli

The Altar of Duke Ratchis, in Carsic stone, is rectangular in shape and still has traces of its polychrome decoration. Christ in Majesty is carved on the front while two crosses on either side of an opening for relics are found on the back. The programme is finished with carvings on the sides of the Visitation and the Adoration of the Magi. The style is strongly anti-Classical.

The picture shows the front of the altar with the depiction of Christ in Majesty. This relief is a typical example of the Lombard decoration style.




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