id: 112876 accession number: 1931.462 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1931.462 updated: 2022-09-12 09:13:57.079000 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: GERDRVDIS XPO FELIX VT | VIVAT IN IPSO OBTVLIT HVNC LAPIDEM GEMMIS | AVROQ NITENTEM translation: remark: inscription: SIGISMVNDVS, CONSTANTIVS, SANCTA CRVX, SCA ELENA, SCA ADALHEIT 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) (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 Treasury, Cathedral of St. Blaise, Brunswick date: 1045-? footnotes: citations: House of Brunswick-Lüneburg date: footnotes: citations: (Goldschmidt Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1931 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1931- footnotes: citations: --- 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 id: 112021 Medallion with the Bust of Christ ("The Cumberland Medallion"), from the Guelph Treasure, late 700s. Germany, Weserraum, Migration period, late 8th century. Cloisonné enamel and gold on copper; diameter: 5.1 x 0.2 cm (2 x 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.504 relationship: id: 112022 Monstrance with the "Paten of Saint Bernward", c. 1180–1190. Saint Oswald Reliquary Workshop (German). Silver, gilded silver, niello, rock crystal; overall: 34.5 x 15.9 x 14 cm (13 9/16 x 6 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.); part 1: 13.5 cm (5 5/16 in.); part 2: 34.3 cm (13 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund with additional gift from Mrs. R. Henry Norweb 1930.505 relationship: id: 112316 Arm Reliquary of the Apostles, c. 1190. Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim, Romanesque period, late 12th century. Gilt silver, champlevé enamel, oak; overall: 51 x 14 x 9.2 cm (20 1/16 x 5 1/2 x 3 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1930.739 relationship: id: 112318 The So-called Horn of Saint Blaise, 1100–1200. South Italy or Sicily, 12th century. Ivory; overall: 12 cm (4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1930.740 relationship: id: 112958 Ceremonial Cross of Countess Gertrude, 1038 or shortly after. Germany, Lower Saxony?, 11th century. Gold: worked in repoussé; cloisonné enamel, intaglio gems, pearls, wood core; overall: 24.2 x 21.6 cm (9 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund with the addition of a gift from Mrs. Edward B. Greene 1931.55 relationship: id: 112971 Monstrance with a Relic of Saint Sebastian, 1484. Germany, Lower Saxony, Brunswick, Gothic period, 15th century. Gilded silver, rock crystal; overall: 47 cm (18 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Julius F. Goldschmidt, Z. M. Hackenbroch, and J. Rosenbaum in memory of the Exhibition of the Guelph Treasure held in the Cleveland Museum of Art from 10 January to 1 February 1931 1931.65 relationship: id: 112875 Ceremonial Cross of Count Liudolf, shortly after 1038. Germany, Lower Saxony?, Romanesque period, 11th century. Gold: worked in repoussé; cloisonné enamel; intaglio gems; pearls; wood core; overall: 24.2 x 21.6 cm (9 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1931.461 relationship: id: 112318 The So-called Horn of Saint Blaise, 1100–1200. South Italy or Sicily, 12th century. Ivory; overall: 12 cm (4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1930.740 relationship: --- CITATIONS Milliken, William M. "The Gertrudis Altar and Two Crosses." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 18, no. 2 (1931). page number: pp. 31-33 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25137357 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/n31 Corbet, Patrick. “L'autel portatif de la comtesse Gertrude de Braunschweig (vers 1040): Tradition royale de Bourgogne et conscience aristocratique dans l'Empire des Saliens.” Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, 34e année (n°134), (1991). page number: pp. 97-120, fig 1-5 (pl. 1-2) url: https://www.persee.fr/doc/ccmed_0007-9731_1991_num_34_134_2488 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/n69 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/n67 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/n70 De Winter, Patrick M. "The Sacral Treasure of the Guelphs." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 1 (1985). page number: pp. 30, 36-37, 39-40, 41, 43, 47, 67, 74, 117, 134-136, 139 no. 4, no. 22, figs. 38-39; color plates V-IX url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159893 Lasko, Peter. Ars Sacra, 800-1200. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. page number: pp. 135-137, 139 url: Luckhardt, Jochen, and Franz Niehoff. Heinrich der Löwe und seine Zeit: Herrschaft und Repräsentation der Welfen 1125-1235 : Katalog der Ausstellung, Braunschweig 1995. München: Hirmer, 1995. page number: no. 120, p. 226; no. 121, p. 227; no. 386, p. 513 url: Boockmann, Andrea. Die verlorenen Teile des 'Welfenschätzes': eine Übersicht anhand des Reliquienverzeichnisses von 1482 der Stiftskirche St. Blasius in Braunschweig. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997. page number: pp. 30, 54, 56, 70, 75, 77, 101, 130f url: Ehlers, Joachim, and Dietrich Kötzsche. Der Welfenschatz und sein Umkreis. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1998. page number: p. 55; abb. 6, p. 56; abb. 5, p. 56; abb. 6, 56; abb. 7, p. 295. url: Budde, Michael. Altare portatile: Kompendium der Tragaltäre des Mittelalters, 600-1600. Münster/Westf: Werne a.d. Lippe, 1998. page number: Vol. I p 168; Vol. II pp 90-98 url: Colloque international du Centre d'études médiévales, Patrick Corbet, Monique Goullet, Dominique Iogna-Prat, Chantal Palluet, and Daniel Russo. Adélaïde de Bourgogne: genèse et représentations d'une sainteté impériale. Paris: Editions de l'Université de Dijon, 2002. page number: p. 157, fig. 4 url: Athanor XVIII. Florida State University Department of Art History, vol. 18, (2000). page number: p. 15, fig. 7 url: Brüsch, Tania. Die Brunonen, ihre Grafschaften und die sächsische Geschichte: Herrschaftsbildung und Adelsbewusstsein im 11. Jahrhundert. Husum: Matthiesen Verlag, 2000. page number: pp 88-92 url: May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. page number: Reproduced: no. 19, p. 24 url: Peter, Michael. Der Gertrudistragaltar aus dem Welfenschatz: eine stilgeschichtliche Untersuchung. Mainz: Von Zabern, 2001. page number: Fig. 1, 2, p. 22, Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7-17, pp. 22-29 url: Stiegemann, Christoph, and Hiltrud Westermann-Angerhausen. Schatzkunst am Aufgang der Romanik: der Paderborner Dom-Tragaltar und sein Umkreis. München: Hirmer, 2006. page number: p. 82, fig. 2 url: Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. page number: p. 114, repr. p. 115-116, no. 36 url: Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 116-118, no. 36 url: Palazzo, Eric. L'espace rituel et le sacré dans le Christianisme: la liturgie de l'autel portatif dans l'Antiquité et au Moyen Âge. Turnhout: Brepols, 2008. page number: pp. 158, 163, 165-66, 179 url: Fliegel, Stephen N. Resplendent Faith: Liturgical Treasuries of the Middle Ages. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2009. page number: pp. 18, fig. 11 url: Klein, Holger A. "Himmlische Schatze." das munster (Jan. 2010). page number: p. 376, fig. 5 url: Bagnoli, Martina. Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010. page number: Reproduced: fig. 42, p.86 url: Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. page number: pp. 88-89 url: Hahn, Cynthia J. Strange Beauty: Issues in the Making and Meaning of Reliquaries, 400-Circa 1204. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2012. page number: p. 97, fig. 44 url: Smith, Julia M. H. Portable Christianity: Relics in the Medieval West (C. 700-1200). Oxford: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2012. page number: p. 147, fig. 1 url: Robinson, James, Lloyd De Beer, and Anna Harnden. Matter of Faith: An Interdisciplinary Study of Relics and Relic Veneration in the Medieval Period. 2014. page number: pp. 137-142 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 264-265 url: 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: Mikolic, Amanda. Worshiping in Place Through Art: The Hidden Gems of the Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude. The Cleveland Museum of Art, CMA Thinker on Medium, 2020. page number: url: https://medium.com/cma-thinker/worshiping-in-place-through-art-the-hidden-gems-of-the-portable-altar-of-countess-gertrude-48f9457d9cc5 García de Castro Valdés, César, and Gerardo Boto Varela. El Arca Santa de Oviedo: contexto de producción, iconografía y significado. 2020, 124. page number: Mentioned: p. 124 and 298. url: Fehlmann, Marc, Michael Matzke and Sabine Söll-Tauchert. Gold & Ruhm: Kunst und Macht unter Kaiser Heinrich II. Basel; München: Historisches Museum Basel; Hirmer, 2019. page number: Mentioned & reproduced: pp. 265-265, cat.89 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