Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude
shortly after 1038
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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 ambitions and claim of imperial lineage for her own dynasty. The Latin inscription surrounding the altar stone reads, "Gertrude offers to Christ, to live joyfully in him, this stone that glistens with gems and gold."
- Title: Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude
- Date Created: shortly after 1038
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 10.5 x 27.5 x 21 cm (4 1/8 x 10 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
- Provenance: Treasury, Cathedral of St. Blaise, Brunswick; House of Brunswick-Lüneburg; (Goldschmidt Galleries, New York).
- Type: Metalwork
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1931.462.a
- Medium: gold, cloisonné enamel, porphyry, gems, pearls, niello, wood core
- Inscriptions: translation of inscription: In order to live happily in Him, Gertrude presented to Christ this stone glistening with precious stones.
- Fun Fact: On the bottom of this altar is a trap door that opened to reveal small relics of saints wrapped in silk.
- Department: Medieval Art
- Culture: Germany, Lower Saxony?, Romanesque period, 11th century
- Credit Line: Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
- Collection: MED - Romanesque
- Accession Number: 1931.462.a
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