Trap door for the Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude
Unknown Artist
c. 1045
Medium
Gold, cloisonné enamel, porphyry, gems, pearls, niello, wood core
Dimensions
10.5 × 27.5 × 21 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Accession Number
1931.462.b
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Commissioned by Countess Gertrude of Brunswick, this portable altar is one of the Guelph Treasure’s earliest and most sumptuous objects. The choice of white-speckled porphyry as the altar stone signals Gertrude’s worldly aspirations; an imperial color since classical antiquity, porphyry was only used by the imperial family. Historical figures of royal and imperial rank are depicted with Christ, the Virgin, apostles, and archangels along the altar’s sides, stressing the countess’s political ambit...