Virgin and Child
Sculptures
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Henry II
| Artist | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1230s (original), 1909 (cast) |
| Object type | plaster cast |
| Medium, technique | plaster cast |
| Dimensions | 185 × 63 × 50 cm |
| Inventory number | Rg.10 |
| Collection | Sculptures |
| On view | National Museum Conservation and Storage Centre, Visible Storage |
Bamberg Cathedral, founded by Henry II, Holy Roman emperor (973–1024), was consecrated in 1012 and acquired its present form during several phases of construction. Adam’s Portal on the east façade was built in the 1190s and was formerly the church’s main entrance. The originally undecorated portal was embellished with sculptures in the 1230s, including the depiction of the church’s founders, Emperor Henry II and his wife, Cunigunde (the plaster cast of the latter is now missing). The original sculptures, now in the Diözesanmuseum in Bamberg, are now the most remarkable works of thirteenth-century in Germany. Based on stylistic analogies, their sculptors may have also worked on the figures of Reims Cathedral in France.
Commissioned by the museum in 1909, the cast was made in the casting workshop of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin. It was installed in the Romanesque Hall in 1910. Between 1997 and 2015 the copy was exhibited in the Library of the Museum of Fine Arts.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.