True Cross reliquary

The Limburg True Cross reliquary is one of a series of True Cross reliquaries.

This object was part of the Byzantine imperial treasury until 1204. It was one of the objects plundered in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade. In 1208 the reliquary was given to the Mosel monastery Augustinernonnenkloster Stuben an der Mosel by the family of the knight, Heinrich von Ülmen. Many other Byzantine objects experienced the same fate, which explains the presence of so many of them in the West in the thirteenth century.

The True Cross reliquary, in the shape of a rectangle, is made up of two parts fitted together. The first comprises a casket in which the relic in the shape of a cross is placed, the second, a lid that slides up. The casket and the lid are made out of sycamore wood, covered with gold, cloisonné enamels on gold and precious stones. There is a small ring above the object.

The inside of the casket is richly decorated with cloisonné enamel plaques with a space in exactly the same shape as the relic placed there. Ten small plaques placed along the vertical arm of the cross each feature a cloisonné enamel angel wearing a pallium or an imperial garment. Ten other – larger – plaques feature pairs of cherubim or seraphim. The inscriptions may be read between the figures of each pair. These plaques are the lids of the small compartments containing relics – of the Passion, of the Mother of God and some of the hairs of John the Baptist. Thirteen plaques on the edge feature garlands of plant motifs. The inner edge of the casket, slightly bevelled, is made up of a frieze of palmettes. The chased frame is decorated with plant motifs.

The lid is also richly decorated with enamel and precious stones. In the centre, nine enamel plaques, surrounded by a decorative band, depicting the twelve Apostles on the upper and lower registers, while the Archangel Gabriel with John the Baptist, Christ Pantokrator and the Virgin accompanied by the Archangel Michael are located in the middle. The frame is decorated with precious stones and eight half-length images of saints. Two images have been lost and were replaced during a restoration. There are two plaques decorated with three rosettes in precious stones above and below this frame. The whole is surrounded by ten rectangular plaques.

The True Cross reliquary, when it is closed, is edged by inscriptions[1] that allow the object to be identified and dated: the donor is Basil the Parakoimomenos, the bastard son of Romanus I (919–949)[2]. This reliquary demonstrates Byzantine craftsmen’s mastery of the goldsmith’s art and the use of enamel. It is also evidence of the donations made by those close to the top of the social hierarchy in the Byzantine world.

[2] The reliquary dates from between 968, the date when Basil the Parakoimomenos acquired this title, equivalent to that of grand chamberlain – he was also the tutor of the young emperors Basil and Constantine (the sons of Romanus II and Theophano) – and 985, the date he was exiled by Basil II (976–1025).