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The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (German: Gero-Kreuz), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
The so-called Gero Cross (or Gero Crucifix) was commissioned by Archbishop Gero of Cologne (r. 969–76). Like later sculpted crucifixes designed for church interiors, it has a compartment for a relic.
The Gero Crucifix inaugurated in Christian art -alongside the dogmatic tradition- a tradition of realistic portrayals of Christ’s crucifixion. It would reach its most powerful expression in the exaggerated realism of the Crucifixion panel of the Isenheim Altarpiece .
In Western sculpture: Carolingian and Ottonian periods. The wooden Gero Crucifix at the cathedral of Cologne, which was carved before 986, already reveals a certain realism in the representation of the shape of the body, in contrast to the contemporary crucifix of Gerresheim (before 1000).
- Alexamenos Graffito, Circa 3rd Century
- Ivory Casket Crucifixion of Christ
- Doors of Santa Sabina in Rome
- Syriac Rabbula Gospels
- Muiredach’s High Cross
- Gero Crucifix
- Ramsey Psalter
- Bronze Corpus of Christ
- Crucifix by Cimabue
- The Queen Mary Psalter
The earliest probably depiction of Jesus on the Cross is the Alexamenos graffito, which was discovered on Rome’s Palatine Hill in 1857. It is believed that this inscription, which was carved into a wall, was meant to mock Christians, as the head of the person on the cross has been replaced by a donkey’s. The person added the words, Αλεξαμενος ϲεβετ...
This late Roman ivory panel, which can be seen in the British Museum, is the earliest known narrative portrayal of the Crucifixion. It is combined with another scene of death, the hanging of Judas. Judas’s stiff, clothed body pulls down the branch of a tree and a spilled sack of coins lies at his feet. In contrast the exposed limbs of Christ appear...
During the early centuries of Christianity, the depiction of Jesus on the cross was rarely done – the idea of showing someone being crucified was disliked by Christians, and they preferred to show him as having ‘risen’. With the purported discovery of the True Cross by Constantine’s mother, Helena, and the growing interest in the cross as a relic, ...
The earliest crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript is in the Syriac Rabbula Gospels, completed in northern Syria in the late 6th century. In early medieval art, Jesus was often depicted along with the two thieves on either side of him.
Muiredach’s High Cross, which can be found in the ruins of Monasterboice in Ireland, is considered one of the finest depictions of Celtic Christian art. Here, Jesus is depicted fully clothed, with his arms stretched straight out. The lance-bearer and sponge-bearer appear on either side of him, while smaller figures of what is like the Virgin Mary a...
The Gero Cross, which can be found in Cologne Cathedral in Germany, was likely made between 965 and 970, and is one the earliest examples of a life-size wood sculpted crucifixion. Its depiction of Jesus, with his slumped head and twisted body, offers a more ‘human’ view of Christ than what was common for Carolingian and Ottoman art.
The Ramsey Psalter, created in England at the end of the 10th century, includes a drawing of the Crucifixion with Mary and John flanking the cross. John’s scroll reads: ‘This is the disciple who giveth testimony’ (John 21:24).
Created in the Rhine Valley of Germany in the second half of the twelfth century, these bronze works are now kept at the Cloisters Museum in New York. They show the suffering figure of Christ in a natural way, offering anatomical details.
Cimabue was one of the great Italian artists of the 13th century. He created this painting for the Church of Santa Croce in Florence.
Created in England in the early fourteenth century, this psalter has a miniature of the Crucifixion, with a grieving Virgin Mary falling into the arms of a woman on the left, Longinus (without his spear) kneeling in the foreground, with two men throwing dice at the foot of the crucifix, and eight niches, four on each side, occupied by male figures.
Jun 7, 2014 · In Cologne, Germany’s magnificent churches, we saw fine examples of how this art form flourished in the medieval age. One of the earliest crucifixes, c. 965- 970, still in situ in the Cologne Cathedral. He is almost stately in his suffering…. Gabelkruzifix (forked cross) c. 1304, inside St. Maria im Kapitol.
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Feb 20, 2017 · The Gero Cross employs medieval materials and techniques to create an illusionistic cult image originally intended for a cross altar in Cologne’s Ottonian cathedral. It combines image, relic, and Eucharist to offer the viewer an embodied encounter with the crucified Christ that evokes medieval descriptions of Christ’s physical presence in ...
