probably
that of her son, Otho III. It seems likely that the work was executed,
at the command of the empress, between 983 and 991.1
In
the cathedral of Treves is the portable altar known as the altar of St.
Andrew. This was primarily a reliquary and secondarily an altar. In
memory of the relic of the sandal of St. Andrew, which was greatly
prized by Archbishop Egbert, this altar bears the representation of a
foot executed in wood and covered with plates of gold. The front of the
case is divided into three fields; that in the middle containing a
Byzantine lion in gold relief, and the others the symbols of the four
evangelists in enamel work. The border is formed of rectangular pieces
of enamel and smaller ones of gold, and it is set with round stones
alternating with half-pearls ; the ends are covered with filigree and
enamel work wherein are embedded strings of pearls. A coin of Justinian
II is set in the middle of the back of the case and is surrounded by a
wreath of larger pearls.2
A
gold cross, the work of Rogkerus Theophilus, is in the Kunstgewerbe
Museum in Berlin, and comes from Herford. The frame, which is of wood,
is covered with plates of gold ; at the extremities and in the center
are groups of precious stones surrounded by pearls ; at the base is a
fine Augustan cameo with a wreath of pearls ; the entire cross is
covered with filigree work and decorated with pearls in groups of
threes. The arrangement of the precious stones, and the enhancement of
their beauty by means of the circles of pearls, are highly artistic. As
a work of Rogkerus, this cross must have been executed at the very end
of the eleventh century and it may be regarded as one of the finest
examples of the art of this period.3
A very rich collection of ecclesiastical ornaments is contained in the treasury of the cathedral of Gran in Hungary.4
One of the most interesting objects is a reliquary in the form of a
Latin cross, which is of great historical and artistic value. An
inventory made after 1528 describes it briefly: "crux aurea continens
lignum vitae" (a gold cross containing the wood of life). Although this
reliquary probably belongs to the end of the twelfth century, the
inventory of 1659 describes it as a gift of King Stephen, and proceeds
to say that the kings of Hungary took their coronation oath upon it.
This custom has been preserved to the present day, and Emperor Francis
Joseph, on the occasion of his coronation as King of Hungary, June 8,
1867, swore, upon this cross, to uphold the constitution and the laws
of the land.
1 Otto von Falke and Heinrich Frauberger, * Ibid., p. 16.
"Deutsche Schmelzarbeiten des Mittelalters," 'Josef Danko, "Aus dem Graner Dom-
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1904, pp. 6, 7. schätz," Gran, 1880, pp. 64-66.
2 Ibid., p. 9·
