Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV at Canossa
Ubaldo Gandolfi Italian
Emperor Henry IV was excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII for his part in the Investiture Controversy that arose from imperial interference in the appointment of clergy. In the winter of 1088, a repentant Henry followed the pope to his temporary residence at Canossa and waited barefoot in the snow outside the castle for three days before being pardoned. The scene, rarely shown in the eighteenth century, perhaps found special resonance in nearby Bologna, the leading city of the Papal States. Ubaldo Gandolfi, an accomplished and expressive painter who also occasionally sculpted, conceived an original and picturesque compositional solution, sheltering Henry in a blasted tree trunk, his crown at his feet.
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