Redeemer blessing (Maiestas Domini)

In the bas-relief with the Redeemer blessing, the figure of
Christ is enclosed in a mandorla supported by four flying angels. This lunette came to the Museum in 1868 with
the Araldi Erizzo collection of the Villa di Torri de’ Picenardi (Cremona) and
originates from the cathedral of Cremona, where it was probably placed on a lesser
portal. It is
the work of an artist active on the Cremona construction site in the years preceding
the earthquake of 1117, which severely damaged the cathedral. The artistic
language is very close to the style of reliefs on the Zodiac Portal of the
Sacra di San Michele in Val di Susa, carried out about 1115-1120 by Maestro
Nicolò, a prominent figure in the panorama of Romanesque sculpture in the Po
Valley.