Heike Schlie

The study aims to focus on the material iconological, art theoretical and, in the broadest sense, epistemological status of the material ‘bronze’ or ‘brass’ for the baptismal font, which was made in 1104-1118 for the church of Notre-Dame-aux-Fonts in Liège based on the model of the Bronze Sea in Solomon’s Temple. However, the primary aim is not to propose new interpretations for this work, but to present a methodological model for an evaluation of the material for the work’s creation, work meaning, work effect, work reception, and so on. The article will investigate both the affordance as a productive factor of the material, its agency in the context of the work, and an aspectivation of the material in production and reception on the basis of this case study. In addition to the goal of evaluating the model of aspectivation for material iconology, considerations of technology iconology associated with the material in particular will be contributed to research on the Liège baptismal font. This concerns in particular the aspects of the technique of casting as well as the fluidity of the bronze in the working process, both in reference to the flow of the baptismal water and to metaphors of a metallurgical liquefaction of the Christ body. Starting from the typological significance of the Liège baptismal font, the role of the material for the “work of art as figura” according to Auerbach is discussed as well.

The article focuses on cross references between the pictorial and scriptural systems of the Klosterneuburg enamel work by Nicolaus of Verdun. The way in which the dedicational inscription characterizes the typological program of its images is termed „rhyming“ (consona). In the inscription, the pictorial narratives of the Old and New Testament are described as sacra consona that are carved, or „trenched“ (peraratum), thus referring to the enamel technique of the Champlevé. Former research on the typological program of the enamelwork that ornamented the ambo in the church of the monastery Klosterneuburg has neglected the original layout of the dedication. A virtual reconstruction rendered by the author, however, shows that originally the verses were positioned in absolute order: each of the four inscription lines on the panels concluded with the last word of a verse. The two smaller panels thus contained four verses, the middle panel eight verses. In 1331 the enamelwork was inserted into a wooden triptych with foldable wings. The enamel work of the middle panel had to be enlarged, making it in turn necessary to alter the layout of the inscription. Since then, the verses cover the inscription line without cohesion between the space of the panel’s lines and the order of the verses. Verses, even words had to be cut to be divided between the end of one panel and the beginning of the next line on another panel. Not only were the verses much easier to read in the original layout, but the whole rhyming structure participated in the typological „rhyming“ system of the images. Additionally, the reconstructed layout reveals that the rhyming word pairs are very often key words to the whole work’s semantics, including cross references not only to the images but also to further inscriptions such as the image tituli. In this work, pictorial and scriptural systems are not designed to fulfill different and distinct tasks; instead, they form a hybrid medium in which meaning and impact results from linked pictorial and scriptural processes. To better describe these processes the author proposes the terminus „Konmedialität“ (conmediality) instead of „Intermedialität“ (intermediality).

The article can be downloaded as pdf under the indicated link.

The only signed work by Nicolas of Verdun, the metalwork which adorned the former ambo in the Stift of Klosterneuburg, was integrated into a foldable altarpiece around 1330. Besides being reframed and fitted to a new wooden support it formed a new medium that combined the metalwork with monumental and modern paintings on the rear side of the triptych. It was not only handled differently and defined spatially in completely different terms, but the precious enamel- and metalwork could be hidden from sight by closing the wings. The added plates of metalwork at the center of the middle panel break up the hieratical  and eucharistic program of the original work to turn it into a program focussed on devotional affects inside and outside the actual work . Specifially, the negative exemplum of the Betrayal of Christ  and the positive exemplum of the Lamentation on either side of the central Cruxifixion demand a response from the beholder in terms of compassion and imitatio. The metalwork and the paintings form a sophisticated iconic reference system in which the provost Stephan of Sierndorf, who ordered the reframing, inserted himself in image and word. His painted figure, kneeling before the crucified Christ, reveals itself not only as the image of the donor, but as the ideal beholder of the work or a further exemplum of perfect piety.