Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder
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Andrea Worm
Abstract
In the 14th century, a monumental seven-branched candelabrum was made for the Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der OderFrankfurt an der OderMarienkircheFrankfurt an der OderFrankfurt an der OderMarienkircheSeven-branched candelabrum (the city’s main parish church), which occupies a special position among the surviving examples of its genre. The lampstand has an unusual figurative programme that unfolds at the foot and covers the stem entirely. The first part of this chapter focuses on the pictorial decoration, on its iconography, and on how the artefact resonates with its spatial setting and liturgical function. In the second part, questions of patronage will be addressed: The city of Frankfurt an der Oder, long part of the dominion of the House of Wittelsbach, came under the rule of Charles IV of Luxembourg in 1373. These political transformations are reflected in the architecture and furnishings of the Marienkirche: the sculpted northern portal of the church bears the coats of arms of the Luxembourg Emperor: the imperial eagle, and the coats of arms of Bohemia and Brandenburg. It will be argued that the seven-branched bronze candelabrum can also be understood as a visual manifestation of this political change (and with it, the change in patronage rights). Charles IV, who repeatedly presented himself as the new Solomon, was, as this chapter seeks to demonstrate, most likely the prestigious lampstand’s donor.
The seven-branched candelabrum at Frankfurt reveals in an exemplary way how the semantics and aesthetics of artefacts manifest themselves not so much as autological, but rather as heterological and decisively contextual qualities, because they were realised in performative (and liturgical) acts as well as in the historical (and political) framework within which the object was conceived and perceived.
Abstract
In the 14th century, a monumental seven-branched candelabrum was made for the Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der OderFrankfurt an der OderMarienkircheFrankfurt an der OderFrankfurt an der OderMarienkircheSeven-branched candelabrum (the city’s main parish church), which occupies a special position among the surviving examples of its genre. The lampstand has an unusual figurative programme that unfolds at the foot and covers the stem entirely. The first part of this chapter focuses on the pictorial decoration, on its iconography, and on how the artefact resonates with its spatial setting and liturgical function. In the second part, questions of patronage will be addressed: The city of Frankfurt an der Oder, long part of the dominion of the House of Wittelsbach, came under the rule of Charles IV of Luxembourg in 1373. These political transformations are reflected in the architecture and furnishings of the Marienkirche: the sculpted northern portal of the church bears the coats of arms of the Luxembourg Emperor: the imperial eagle, and the coats of arms of Bohemia and Brandenburg. It will be argued that the seven-branched bronze candelabrum can also be understood as a visual manifestation of this political change (and with it, the change in patronage rights). Charles IV, who repeatedly presented himself as the new Solomon, was, as this chapter seeks to demonstrate, most likely the prestigious lampstand’s donor.
The seven-branched candelabrum at Frankfurt reveals in an exemplary way how the semantics and aesthetics of artefacts manifest themselves not so much as autological, but rather as heterological and decisively contextual qualities, because they were realised in performative (and liturgical) acts as well as in the historical (and political) framework within which the object was conceived and perceived.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- List of Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
I. Tabernacle and Temple
- Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
- Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
- Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
- Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
- Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
-
II. Image and Exegesis
- tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
- Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
- The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
- “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
-
III. Patronage and Memoria
- Aniane and Fulda 341
- Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
- Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
- Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
-
IV. Context and (Re-)Use
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
- „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
- „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
- Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
- Figures and Charts 653
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- List of Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
I. Tabernacle and Temple
- Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
- Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
- Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
- Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
- Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
-
II. Image and Exegesis
- tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
- Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
- The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
- “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
-
III. Patronage and Memoria
- Aniane and Fulda 341
- Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
- Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
- Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
-
IV. Context and (Re-)Use
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
- „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
- „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
- Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
- Figures and Charts 653
