NICHOLAS OF VERDUN

Of the works that have been attributed to Nicholas of Verdun and his workshop, only the Three Kings’ shrine in Cologne Cathedral can be regarded as genuine. It is the largest and most magnificent of surviving medieval shrines and is in the form of a basilica. On the long sides at ground-storey level there are 12 prophets; at ‘clerestory’ level above are the 12 Apostles, in silver-gilt relief. The Adoration of the Magi and the Baptism of Christ occupy the lower section of the fa�ade, with Christ in Majesty flanked by angels with the Instruments of the Passion above. On the other end of the shrine are scenes of the Passion, with Christ Crowning the Martyrs Nabor and Felix on the upper section.

The contents of the shrine include the relics of the Three Magi, which were transferred from Milan to Cologne by Archbishop Reinhold von Dassel in 1164 after Milan’s defeat by Emperor Frederick I. The donation of Emperor Otto IV’s crown after his coronation in 1198 for the skulls of the Magi, and the associated donation of gold, provide the only indication of the date of manufacture. It is presumed that the fa�ade made entirely of gold and adorned with precious cameos dates from the time of this donation; at any rate, Otto IV (reg 1198–1218) is represented as the donor on the fa�ade and with the Three Magi in the Adoration scene. Sections showing a later style of poorer quality are to be found on the back of the shrine; they may have been executed c. 1220. The shrine was damaged during its subsequent history, and it was altered and reduced in size during the restorations of 1804–7. It was again restored from 1967 to 1973, when some additions were made in an attempt to reconstruct its original appearance.

Of the works that have been attributed to Nicholas of Verdun and his workshop, only the Three Kings’ shrine in Cologne Cathedral can be regarded as genuine. It is the largest and most magnificent of surviving medieval shrines and is in the form of a basilica. On the long sides at ground-storey level there are 12 prophets; at ‘clerestory’ level above are the 12 Apostles, in silver-gilt relief. The Adoration of the Magi and the Baptism of Christ occupy the lower section of the fa�ade, with Christ in Majesty flanked by angels with the Instruments of the Passion above. On the other end of the shrine are scenes of the Passion, with Christ Crowning the Martyrs Nabor and Felix on the upper section.

The contents of the shrine include the relics of the Three Magi, which were transferred from Milan to Cologne by Archbishop Reinhold von Dassel in 1164 after Milan’s defeat by Emperor Frederick I. The donation of Emperor Otto IV’s crown after his coronation in 1198 for the skulls of the Magi, and the associated donation of gold, provide the only indication of the date of manufacture. It is presumed that the fa�ade made entirely of gold and adorned with precious cameos dates from the time of this donation; at any rate, Otto IV (reg 1198–1218) is represented as the donor on the fa�ade and with the Three Magi in the Adoration scene. Sections showing a later style of poorer quality are to be found on the back of the shrine; they may have been executed c. 1220. The shrine was damaged during its subsequent history, and it was altered and reduced in size during the restorations of 1804–7. It was again restored from 1967 to 1973, when some additions were made in an attempt to reconstruct its original appearance.

Of the works that have been attributed to Nicholas of Verdun and his workshop, only the Three Kings’ shrine in Cologne Cathedral can be regarded as genuine. It is the largest and most magnificent of surviving medieval shrines and is in the form of a basilica. On the long sides at ground-storey level there are 12 prophets; at ‘clerestory’ level above are the 12 Apostles, in silver-gilt relief. The Adoration of the Magi and the Baptism of Christ occupy the lower section of the fa�ade, with Christ in Majesty flanked by angels with the Instruments of the Passion above. On the other end of the shrine are scenes of the Passion, with Christ Crowning the Martyrs Nabor and Felix on the upper section.

The contents of the shrine include the relics of the Three Magi, which were transferred from Milan to Cologne by Archbishop Reinhold von Dassel in 1164 after Milan’s defeat by Emperor Frederick I. The donation of Emperor Otto IV’s crown after his coronation in 1198 for the skulls of the Magi, and the associated donation of gold, provide the only indication of the date of manufacture. It is presumed that the fa�ade made entirely of gold and adorned with precious cameos dates from the time of this donation; at any rate, Otto IV (reg 1198–1218) is represented as the donor on the fa�ade and with the Three Magi in the Adoration scene. Sections showing a later style of poorer quality are to be found on the back of the shrine; they may have been executed c. 1220. The shrine was damaged during its subsequent history, and it was altered and reduced in size during the restorations of 1804–7. It was again restored from 1967 to 1973, when some additions were made in an attempt to reconstruct its original appearance.

Towards the end of the twelfth century, Nicholas of Verdun, the most celebrated goldsmith between Romanesque and Gothic art, appeared again in the very fertile Mosan area. The date of two of his works is known: the celebrated altarpiece at Klosterneuburg near Vienna (1181) and the Shrine of the Virgin in Tournai Cathedral.

The detail of the Shrine of the Virgin represents The Flight into Egypt.

An inscription added to the enamel plaques now decorating a winged altarpiece in Klosterneuburg Abbey, near Vienna, records that they were transferred there in 1331 from an ‘ambo’. The earlier inscription signed by Nicholas of Verdun bears the date of their completion, 1181. The original 45 plaques, all made of champlev� enamel, were probably arranged across the three projecting sides of the pulpit; a further 10 plaques were added at the time of the remodelling in 1331.

The altarpiece bears an extensive typological scheme, with Old and New Testament scenes arranged in three rows, and busts of angels, prophets and Virtues in the spandrels of the trefoil-headed arcades. The central register, the most important, is inscribed sub gratia and shows the events of the New Testament, from the Annunciation to Pentecost and the Second Coming of Christ at the Last Judgement. The registers above and below bear scenes related in theme and content to those of the New Testament, but from the periods before and after the revelation of the Law to Moses, ante legem and sub lege respectively. The sequence of scenes is delineated by a system of counting marks, and the programme is described by the inscriptions surrounding the scenes, thus forming a sermon in pictures.

Although the plaques are executed in a uniform, classicizing style, they are not the creation of a single master. The names of six goldsmiths are known as witnesses to documents at Klosterneuburg in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the work of five or six different artists on the enamels has been discerned through stylistic analysis. Two of these artists produced work of exceptional quality and set the artistic tone of the piece, but it is unclear which one is to be identified with Nicholas of Verdun himself.

The Klosterneuburg pulpit is the largest and most important example of champlev� enamelwork to survive from the Middle Ages. The deep blue backgrounds gleam in contrast to the copper gilt surfaces of the figures in the foreground, and the graphic technique gives an impression of supple, lively movement, yet at the same time achieves a sense of volume. While this is a general tendency in art of the second half of the 12th century, the naturalistic treatment of the figures is unprecedented. From the evidence of surviving works, the Klosterneuburg pulpit appears to have initiated the classicizing style of c. 1200.

An inscription added to the enamel plaques now decorating a winged altarpiece in Klosterneuburg Abbey, near Vienna, records that they were transferred there in 1331 from an ‘ambo’. The earlier inscription signed by Nicholas of Verdun bears the date of their completion, 1181. The original 45 plaques, all made of champlev� enamel, were probably arranged across the three projecting sides of the pulpit; a further 10 plaques were added at the time of the remodelling in 1331.

The altarpiece bears an extensive typological scheme, with Old and New Testament scenes arranged in three rows, and busts of angels, prophets and Virtues in the spandrels of the trefoil-headed arcades. The central register, the most important, is inscribed sub gratia and shows the events of the New Testament, from the Annunciation to Pentecost and the Second Coming of Christ at the Last Judgement. The registers above and below bear scenes related in theme and content to those of the New Testament, but from the periods before and after the revelation of the Law to Moses, ante legem and sub lege respectively. The sequence of scenes is delineated by a system of counting marks, and the programme is described by the inscriptions surrounding the scenes, thus forming a sermon in pictures.

Although the plaques are executed in a uniform, classicizing style, they are not the creation of a single master. The names of six goldsmiths are known as witnesses to documents at Klosterneuburg in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the work of five or six different artists on the enamels has been discerned through stylistic analysis. Two of these artists produced work of exceptional quality and set the artistic tone of the piece, but it is unclear which one is to be identified with Nicholas of Verdun himself.

The Klosterneuburg pulpit is the largest and most important example of champlev� enamelwork to survive from the Middle Ages. The deep blue backgrounds gleam in contrast to the copper gilt surfaces of the figures in the foreground, and the graphic technique gives an impression of supple, lively movement, yet at the same time achieves a sense of volume. While this is a general tendency in art of the second half of the 12th century, the naturalistic treatment of the figures is unprecedented. From the evidence of surviving works, the Klosterneuburg pulpit appears to have initiated the classicizing style of c. 1200.

This is one of the forty-five panels on the altar-frontal (pulpit) designed by Nicholas of Verdun, and exemplifies the most important characteristics of his style: monumental figures, trough-like drapery folds that indicate the movement and torsion of the figure, dramatic presentation of the theme, and sophisticated imagery.

Above the enamel panel of Moses are to the left and right respectively personifications of humility and patience.

This is one of the forty-five email plaques on the altar retable, or superstructure, called the Klosterneuburg Altar (height 109 cm, width of middle section 263 cm, width of side wings 121 cm each). This exquisite work has a complicated history. Originally the email plaques, designed by Nicholas of Verdun, were located on an ambo, a type of chancel. Probably in the thirteenth century, they were removed and combined with the cross altar, perhaps as an antependium (or screen), or perhaps already in the form of a retable, a “golden panel” of the kind familiar from the Pala d’Oro in San Marco in Venice. The winged retable is composed of the emails, forming their setting: framing and presenting them. This array of emails, the largest known from the Middle Ages, juxtaposes scenes from the story of redemption at Christ’s time with corresponding subjects from the Old Testament in which the New Testament appears prefigured.

Nicholas of Verdun’s understanding of the human body and its organic motions, and his ability to represent these in the classical sense, increased as work progressed, as becomes clearly evident in the sequence of plaques. The transition from a very schematic rendering of the figures to a relaxed, organic depiction, as well as to proper proportions of figure and drapery surely resulted from a knowledge of late-antique ivory diptychs, bronze and silver statuettes, and influences from Byzantine art. The Samson scene is represented as it were a legacy of classical depiction of Hercules.

This plate is part of the enamel decoration of the former pulpit, made by Nicholas of Verdun, who belonged to the metalworking centre of the Meuse.

The sequence of scenes is delineated by a system of counting marks, and the programme is described by the inscriptions surrounding the scenes, thus forming a sermon in pictures.