page_title: Cross of Lothair
section_title: Description and interpretation
hierarchical_section_title: Cross of Lothair / Description and interpretation
context_page_description: The Cross of Lothair or Lothair Cross is a crux gemmata processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its base dates from the 14th century. It was made in Germany, probably at Cologne. It is an outstanding example of medieval goldsmith's work, and "an important monument of imperial ideology", forming part of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, which includes several other masterpieces of sacral Ottonian art. The measurements of the original portion are 50 cm height, 38.5 cm width, 2.3 cm depth. The cross comes from the period when Ottonian art was evolving into Romanesque art, and the engraved crucifixion on the reverse looks forward to the later period.
context_section_description: The oak core of the Lothair Cross is encased in gold and silver and encrusted with jewels and engraved gems – a total of 102 gems and 35 pearls. The front of the cross (in the terms used here) is made of gold and silver plate and is richly decorated with precious stones, pearls, gold filigree and cloisonné enamel. There is a case for describing this as the reverse side, as some sources do, as it may have been carried that way in processions, with the plain engraved crucifixion facing forward, and the gem-encrusted face facing the emperor who followed the cross. The enamel is on the bands of the terminals that are interrupted by the points of the triangular sections. The gems in the centre rows are mounted in raised drum-like platforms, their sides decorated with arcades in filigree. The flat surface of the arms is decorated all over with filigree tendrils. At the meeting point of the arms is a first-century AD sardonyx three-layered cameo of the Roman Emperor Augustus holding an eagle sceptre, also mounted on a raised drum.
  On the assumption that the Ottonians were aware that the cameo was a portrait of Augustus, it served to link the Ottonian dynasty with the original Roman emperors, and assert them as God's representatives on earth. On the other hand, an engraved gem portrait of Augustus's daughter Julia (or Julia Flavia, daughter of the emperor Titus) at the top of the "Escrain de Charlemagne", an elaborate treasure given to the Abbey of Saint-Denis by Charles the Bald, was treated as an image of the Virgin Mary. Another gem portrait of the Roman Emperor Caracalla had a cross and the name of Saint Peter added to it before use in metalwork for the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It is now impossible to know the degrees of awareness of this iconographic recycling among the different categories of people creating and seeing these objects.
  The second largest gem, below Augustus, was probably Lothair's seal and has his portrait with the inscription "+XPE ADIVVA HLOTARIVM REG" ("O Christ, help King Lothar"). This served a similar function, linking the Ottonians with the Carolingian dynasty who had established the position of Holy Roman Emperor. Other gems on the cross have classical carvings on them, including an amethyst with the Three Graces and a lion in onyx, both of which are mounted with the images placed sideways.
  The reverse side of the Cross is a plain gold plate engraved with the “Crucifixion of Jesus”, with above it the Hand of God holding a victor's wreath containing the dove of the Holy Ghost; here this represents God the Father's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. This is the earliest known appearance of the dove in this motif, which introduces the whole Trinity into a crucifixion, an iconography that was to have a long future. The Serpent, representing Satan, is twined round the bottom of the cross. In medallions at the ends of the arms are personifications of the sun and moon with heads bowed and surmounted by their symbols. The Hand with the wreath was a common motif in mosaics in Rome, and also used in art associated with the early Holy Roman Emperors, including in illuminated manuscript portraits of themselves, to emphasize their authority from God.
  This is an outstanding and moving example of the “Crucifixion”, closely related to the slightly earlier life-size wooden Gero Cross in Cologne, which was a crucial work in developing the Western image of the dead crucified Christ, whose head is slumped to his shoulder, and whose sagging body forms a S shape, showing the marks of his suffering, here with blood spurting from the spear-wound in his side. Engraved backs are found in many jewelled crosses of the period. The cross is now mounted on a 14th-century Gothic stand, itself decorated with two small crucifixions and other figures.
  This style of gem-studded gold decoration, re-using material from antiquity, was usual for the richest objects at the time. In particular, the motif of the glorified jewelled cross, a "transformation of the crude gibbet on which Christ died", goes back to Late Antiquity, when pagan oppon
caption: The Mathilda Cross of c. 973 has many similarities, but has a sculpted Christ on the front, above a figurative enamel plaque.
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