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This is unique because the artist did not depict Christ as idealized and overcoming death, but vulnerable and humanized. This is most likely because of a change in
Christian teaching in the late tenth century that put salvation through Christ's death at the heart of Christian doctrine. The beam and the corpus are original; however, the gold sun and the marble altar it stands in were donated in 1683 by Canon Heinrich Mering.
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In 1904, a new layer of paint was added to the cross by W. Batzem. This, along with several other layers of paint below it, concealed many of the original details from the piece. However, modern day x-ray technology has determined that the eyes on the original layer of paint were indeed closed.
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The shape of the Gero Cross is traditional to
Carolingian religious art. However, this piece puts extra emphasis on the suffering of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, with the slumped head, lifeless body, and closed eyes. Other depictions are idealized and do not show Christ as vulnerable and disfigured.
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The old cathedral only underwent minor changes until the 13th century. Cologne became one of the most important churches in Europe for religious pilgrimages, containing not only the Gero Cross, but also the Magi reliquary and the
Madonna of Milan. When it was decided to rebuild it, the old
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period, later spreading to much of Europe. It is the first monumental depiction of the crucified Christ on the Cross and the first monumental sculpture dating from this period. Standing over six feet tall, it was one of the largest crosses of its time. Additionally, it appears to be the oldest
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This was a major influence on later crosses, especially in 11th-century
Germany, where you see more crosses that follow this rounded, natural style. The slumped head and twisted body, which arises as the hands are nailed to the cross at different heights, are found neither in
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surround was added in 1683. The figure is 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) high, and the span of its arms is 165 cm (5 ft 5 in). It is the earliest known
Western depiction of Christ on the cross while dead; earlier depictions had Christ appearing alive.
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Until the 1920s, despite local tradition, and the reference in
Thietmar's chronicle associating it with Gero, it was thought to be at least a century later in date, and it is indeed innovative for its date. The dating was confirmed by
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Western depiction of a dead Christ on the cross; in most earlier depictions, Christ holds his head erect and looks straight ahead, or in some
Carolingian examples looks down at the Virgin at the foot of the cross.
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The Gero Cross is important to medieval art for the unique way it depicts Christ. The figure appears to be the earliest, and finest, of several life-size German wood sculpted crucifixions that appeared in the late
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in Italy is considerably older, though that sculpture had to be recreated in the Gothic period after being nibbled away by pilgrims, which makes this claim difficult to verify by art historians.
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is an example of this type. The development of a tradition of free-standing monumental sculpture was crucial in
Western art; in Byzantine art such images were and are avoided.
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Fisher, Annika
Elisabeth (2006). "Cross Alter and Crucifix in Ottonian Cologne: Past Narrative, Present Ritual, Future Resurrection". In Kaspersen, Søren; Thunø, Erik (eds.).
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building was taken down piece by piece before the new building could be put up in 1248. In 1322, the Gero cross was placed in the new building where it remains today.
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in 1976, ending the controversy. Contrary to long-held tradition, the studies in 1976 revealed that there is no space in the back of the head to place
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Earlier large figures of Christ on the Cross appear to have been in metal, or metal on a wooden core; there was said to be one in
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The cross has always been in
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A replica of the crucifix hangs in the St. Alphonsus Chapel located in the
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or large crucifixes. It has long been celebrated and visited by pilgrims.
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458:"St. Benedict Parish acquires replica of Gero crucifix"
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Ornamenta Ecclesiae, Kunst und Künstler der Romanik
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401:"Detail of the Upper Body"
304:"Gero Crucifix, circa 970"
263:"Report on Gero Crucifix"
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569:at Wikimedia Commons
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272:2023-06-12
224:Fort Worth
132:, and the
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495:ignored (
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234:See also
220:Missouri
154:sacristy
117:and the
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267:Desklib
148:History
80:Baroque
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158:Gothic
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334:Lauer
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