Klosterneuburg Altar
Type:
Altarpieces,
Minbars and pulpits
Date:
1181
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Austria
Dimensions:
H 109 cm ; center panel W 263 cm; side panels W 121 cm each
Description:
Klosterneuburg Abbey, founded in 1114, boasts a masterpiece of medieval enamel work. The so-called Klosterneuburg Altar originally adorned the church pulpit; it was transformed into a three-part winged altarpiece after a fire in the fourteenth century. The work was completed in 1181 by the renowned goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun, who also began the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne). He used the champlevé enamel technique on gilt-copper plaques.
The work's three registers correspond to three periods of Christian salvation history, identified vertically at the left and right edges of each large panel. "Before the Law" (Latin Ante legem), at the top, has scenes from Creation to Noah's Ark; "under the Law" (Sub lege), in the lowest zone, represents scenes from Jewish history, including Elijah, Jonah, and Samson, until Moses receives God's Law on Mount Sinai; and the middle depicts Christological scenes from the era "under grace" (Sub gratia), from the Annunciation to Pentecost, the fulfillment of the Old Testament typologies above and below. Formal or iconographic correspondences help unite the three scenes in each vertical column visually. The final images, at the far right in all three zones, are scenes from Judgment Day and the end of time: at the top the Second Coming and Heavenly Jerusalem; at the bottom the resurrection of the dead and the mouth of Hell; and in the center angels blowing trumpets and Christ sitting in judgment.
In addition to shorter texts around each scene, the altarpiece bears a long metrical inscription in Latin that instructs the viewer about how to perceive the work and underscores the superiority of the New Testament over the Old. Between the horizontal rows of scenes is the statement that the sixth abbot of Klosterneuburg consecrated this work made by Nicolas of Verdun in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The work's three registers correspond to three periods of Christian salvation history, identified vertically at the left and right edges of each large panel. "Before the Law" (Latin Ante legem), at the top, has scenes from Creation to Noah's Ark; "under the Law" (Sub lege), in the lowest zone, represents scenes from Jewish history, including Elijah, Jonah, and Samson, until Moses receives God's Law on Mount Sinai; and the middle depicts Christological scenes from the era "under grace" (Sub gratia), from the Annunciation to Pentecost, the fulfillment of the Old Testament typologies above and below. Formal or iconographic correspondences help unite the three scenes in each vertical column visually. The final images, at the far right in all three zones, are scenes from Judgment Day and the end of time: at the top the Second Coming and Heavenly Jerusalem; at the bottom the resurrection of the dead and the mouth of Hell; and in the center angels blowing trumpets and Christ sitting in judgment.
In addition to shorter texts around each scene, the altarpiece bears a long metrical inscription in Latin that instructs the viewer about how to perceive the work and underscores the superiority of the New Testament over the Old. Between the horizontal rows of scenes is the statement that the sixth abbot of Klosterneuburg consecrated this work made by Nicolas of Verdun in honor of the Virgin Mary.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
8
Repository and Online Resources:
• See images of all the scenes here.
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
