id: 112876 accession number: 1931.462 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1931.462 updated: 2019-06-05 08:28:01.076000 Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude, c. 1045. Germany, Lower Saxony?, Romanesque period, 11th century. Gold, cloisonné enamel, porphyry, gems, pearls, niello, wood core; overall: 10.5 x 27.5 x 21 cm (4 1/8 x 10 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1931.462 title: Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1045 creation date earliest: 1040 creation date latest: 1050 current location: 106C Medieval Treasury creditline: Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust copyright: --- culture: Germany, Lower Saxony?, Romanesque period, 11th century technique: gold, cloisonné enamel, porphyry, gems, pearls, niello, wood core department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Romanesque type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 10.5 x 27.5 x 21 cm (4 1/8 x 10 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: translation of inscription: In order to live happily in Him, Gertrude presented to Christ this stone glistening with precious stones. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition opening date: 1936-06-26T04:00:00 The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 12, 1936). title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00 The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). title: Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum opening date: 1991-06-07T04:00:00 Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991). title: Gold & Glory: Gifts for Eternity opening date: 2019-10-11T04:00:00 Gold & Glory: Gifts for Eternity. Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland (October 11, 2019-January 19, 2020). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: On the bottom of this altar is a trap door that opened to reveal small relics of saints wrapped in silk. digital description: wall description: 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." --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 95 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958#page=31 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 45 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966#page=69 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 45 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969#page=67 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 50 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978#page=70 Gearhart, Heidi C. Theophilus and the Theory and Practice of Medieval Art. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017. page number: Reproduced: color plate 10; p. 109, fig, 24; p. 110, fig. 25: Mentioned: p. 111-113 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1931.462/1931.462_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1931.462/1931.462_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1931.462/1931.462_full.tif