cameo at the center of the
Cross of Lothair The oak core of the Lothair Cross is encased in gold and silver and encrusted with jewels and
engraved gems – a total of 102 gems and 35
pearls. The front of the cross (in the terms used here) is made of gold and silver plate and is richly decorated with precious stones, pearls, gold
filigree and
cloisonné enamel. There is a case for describing this as the reverse side, as some sources do, as it may have been carried that way in processions, with the plain engraved crucifixion facing forward, and the gem-encrusted face facing the emperor who followed the cross. The enamel is on the bands of the terminals that are interrupted by the points of the triangular sections. The gems in the centre rows are mounted in raised drum-like platforms, their sides decorated with arcades in filigree. The flat surface of the arms is decorated all over with filigree
tendrils. At the meeting point of the arms is a first-century AD
sardonyx three-layered
cameo of the Roman Emperor
Augustus holding an eagle
sceptre, also mounted on a raised drum. On the assumption that the Ottonians were aware that the cameo was a portrait of Augustus (some coins of that era showed Charlemagne and his successors as Roman Emperors with short hair and laurel wreaths), it served to link the Ottonian dynasty with the original Roman emperors, and assert them as God's representatives on Earth. On the other hand, an
engraved gem portrait of Augustus's daughter
Julia (or
Julia Flavia, daughter of the emperor
Titus) at the top of the "Escrain de
Charlemagne", an elaborate treasure given to the
Abbey of Saint-Denis by Charles the Bald, was treated as an image of the
Virgin Mary. Another gem portrait of the Roman Emperor
Caracalla had a cross and the name of
Saint Peter added to it before use in metalwork for the
Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It is now impossible to know the degrees of awareness of this iconographic recycling among the different categories of people creating and seeing these objects. The second largest gem, below Augustus, was probably Lothair's seal and has his portrait with the inscription "+XPE ADIVVA HLOTARIVM REG" ("O Christ, help King Lothar"). This served a similar function, linking the Ottonians with the
Carolingian dynasty who had established the position of
Holy Roman Emperor. Other gems on the cross have classical carvings on them, including an
amethyst with the
Three Graces and a lion in
onyx, both of which are mounted with the images placed sideways. The reverse side of the Cross is a plain gold plate engraved with the
Crucifixion of Jesus, with above it the
Hand of God holding a victor's wreath containing the dove of the
Holy Ghost; here this represents
God the Father's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. This is the earliest known appearance of the dove in this motif, which introduces the whole
Trinity into a crucifixion, an iconography that was to have a long future. The Serpent, representing
Satan, is twined round the bottom of the cross. In medallions at the ends of the arms are
personifications of the sun and moon with heads bowed and surmounted by their symbols. The Hand with the wreath was a common motif in
mosaics in Rome, and also used in art associated with the early
Holy Roman Emperors, including in
illuminated manuscript portraits of themselves, to emphasize their authority from God. The cross is an outstanding and moving example of the
Crucifixion of Jesus, closely related to the slightly earlier life-size wooden
Gero Cross in Cologne, which was a crucial work in developing the Western image of the dead crucified Christ, whose head is slumped to his shoulder, and whose sagging body forms a S shape, showing the marks of his suffering, here with blood spurting from the spear-wound in his side. Engraved backs are found in many jewelled crosses of the period. The cross is now mounted on a 14th-century
Gothic stand, itself decorated with two small crucifixions and other figures. This style of gem-studded gold decoration, re-using material from antiquity, was usual for the richest objects at the time. In particular, the motif of the glorified jewelled cross, a "transformation of the crude gibbet on which Christ died", goes back to
Late Antiquity, when pagan opponents of Christianity often mocked the mean nature of the primary Christian symbol. Until about the 6th century, crosses rarely showed the figure of
Christ, but by 1000 other grand jewelled crosses had already moved the crucifixion, usually in gilded cast bronze, to the front face of the cross, to make them
crucifixes, which would remain the most common Catholic form of cross. Some examples are the crosses of
Bernward of Hildesheim (,
Hildesheim Cathedral),
Gisela of Hungary (
Regensburg, 1006, now
Munich Residenz), and
Mathilda of Essen (973,
Essen Cathedral, see left), which uses a virtually identical design for the terminals of the arms to the Lothair Cross. The Lothair Cross is in this respect a somewhat conservative object, leaving the front free for imperial symbolism, and also perhaps as a deliberate revival of
Carolingian style; for example, most rich crosses of similar date made more use of enamel. The two sides can be taken to represent Church and state, fittingly for an imperial donation that was carried in front of the Holy Roman Emperors as they processed into the church. The broad form of the design matches that of the small cross at the front of the
Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (/83?), which also has a jewelled front side and an engraved crucifixion on the rear. ==Notes==