Skip to main content

Augsburg altar cross with the crucifixion

Image attached to MAR.M.46-1912

An image of Sculpture. Crucifix/altar cross. Sexfoil engraved with the Resurrection; the angel with the two Maries at the tomb; Noli me tangere; the walk to Emmaeus; the Ascension; and Pentecost. The cross, which contains a reliquary, is set with imitation stones, and enclosed in canopy work among which are the figures of the twelve apostles, and the central figure of the donor, or the saint to which the church was dedicated. There is an angel at either end of the cross-bar, both holding a chalice. There are four circular medallions of enamel on the front of the cross. Top: St. Luke with the bull; right St. Mark with the lion; left: St. John with the eagle; bottom: Adam and Eve expelled from the garden of Eden. (?St. Matthew at the top and missing, as the plaque of the Expulsion should be on the reverse of the cross). Beneath the Expulsion are the words: 'Johanesz hieber diener/meinn. Lasz dir meinn/mütter befollen seinn.' (John, I herewith commend my mother to you.') which refers to the figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John who are standing at the foot of the cross. [The Virgin on the left and St. John on the right]. The three enamel medallions on the back of the cross are; top: Creation of Eve from Adam's side; left: Eve tempting Adam with the apple; right: Adam and Eve hiding from the Lord God in the garden. The fourth medallion is missing, and it may be suggested that the Expulsion should belong here. Engraved at the top of the back of the cross is God the Father and Creator, crowned with a Jewish high-priestly mitre (or the imperial crown?), and holding an orb and a sceptre terminating in a fleur-de-lis. Below, on the cross-bar, is the garden of Eden with many animals (which perhaps represent unfallen nature). Below this again is the scene from Numbers XXI. Here a man lies bitten by a snake, in front of the tents of the camp of the Israelites, while Moses, with two horns upon his head stands by. There is a reliquary compartment behind the figure of Christ, crowned with

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

About this image

Sculpture. Crucifix/altar cross. Sexfoil engraved with the Resurrection; the angel with the two Maries at the tomb; Noli me tangere; the walk to Emmaeus; the Ascension; and Pentecost. The cross, which contains a reliquary, is set with imitation stones, and enclosed in canopy work among which are the figures of the twelve apostles, and the central figure of the donor, or the saint to which the church was dedicated. There is an angel at either end of the cross-bar, both holding a chalice. There are four circular medallions of enamel on the front of the cross. Top: St. Luke with the bull; right St. Mark with the lion; left: St. John with the eagle; bottom: Adam and Eve expelled from the garden of Eden. (?St. Matthew at the top and missing, as the plaque of the Expulsion should be on the reverse of the cross). Beneath the Expulsion are the words: 'Johanesz hieber diener/meinn. Lasz dir meinn/mütter befollen seinn.' (John, I herewith commend my mother to you.') which refers to the figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John who are standing at the foot of the cross. [The Virgin on the left and St. John on the right]. The three enamel medallions on the back of the cross are; top: Creation of Eve from Adam's side; left: Eve tempting Adam with the apple; right: Adam and Eve hiding from the Lord God in the garden. The fourth medallion is missing, and it may be suggested that the Expulsion should belong here. Engraved at the top of the back of the cross is God the Father and Creator, crowned with a Jewish high-priestly mitre (or the imperial crown?), and holding an orb and a sceptre terminating in a fleur-de-lis. Below, on the cross-bar, is the garden of Eden with many animals (which perhaps represent unfallen nature). Below this again is the scene from Numbers XXI. Here a man lies bitten by a snake, in front of the tents of the camp of the Israelites, while Moses, with two horns upon his head stands by. There is a reliquary compartment behind the figure of Christ, crowned with

Image data

  • Accession Number: MAR.M.46-1912
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/22.0
  • Focal length: 70
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D
  • Photographer name: Michael Jones
  • Image height: 1024 pixels
  • Image width: 683 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 479.39kB
  • Exposure time: 1/125
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 22/1
  • Captured: 2008:04:01 13:53:40

Key words

16th Century altar cross apostles Augsburg Calvary Christ Christianity church plate copper copper gilt crucified crucifix crucifixion disciples Easter ecclesiastical enamel engraved engraving evangelist Fitz_AA German gilt Golgotha Jesus medallions Northern Renaissance passion Passion of Christ religion religious reliquary Renaissance Saint John sculpture sexfoil St John St John the Evangelist thieves Virgin Mary

Colours in this image

rgb(178,178,177), rgb(102,106,112), rgb(164,120,56), rgb(102,68,37), rgb(64,58,52), rgb(232,215,183), rgb(213,171,98), rgb(128,121,120), rgb(132,139,141), rgb(212,220,212), rgb(212,212,220)

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Augsburg altar cross with the crucifixion" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-727055754 Accessed: 2024-03-28 20:36:34

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-727055754 |title=Augsburg altar cross with the crucifixion |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-28 20:36:34|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/images/media-206992

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa37/MAR_M_46_1912_01_200804_mfj22_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Crucifix"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Augsburg altar cross with the crucifixion</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...