The iconography of the Cismar altarpiece and the role of relics in an early winged altarpiece

• Autores: Donald L. Ehresmann
• Localización: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, ISSN 0044-2992, Vol. 64, Nº. 1, 2001, págs. 1-36
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The writer explores the artistic and literary sources of the iconography and iconology expressed in the program of the 14th-century winged Cismar Altarpiece at the Benedictine Abbey of Cismar, Germany. The iconography of the altarpiece mirrored the spiritual identity of a Benedictine religious community, an identity that revolved around an emphasis on liturgical prayer as intercession and the role of relics in enhancing intercession. On high feast days relics were displayed in the altarpiece, flanked by images extolling the saintly paragons of the Cismar Benedictine house and imbedded in images expressing sacramental access to redemption in the life and death of Christ.