Statue of St. Maurice
Type:
Sculptures
Date:
1240s
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Germany
Medium:
Stone
Description:
Magdeburg Cathedral was begun in the early thirteenth century after the previous church was destroyed in a city fire (1207). It was built on the site of a former monastery dedicated to St. Maurice (d. 287), a soldier from Thebes (Egypt) whose entire legion converted to Christianity and was subsequently martyred. The cathedral's sculpture of St. Maurice is the earliest representation of the martyr as a black African. This tradition in depicting St. Maurice exists in hundreds of examples from subsequent centuries, and spread to Scandinavia, the Czech Republic (e.g., in a painting at Karlštejn Castle), and Poland, among other regions.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
8
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
