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Six Enamel Plaques

late 12th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
These plaques depict episodes of the Life of Christ: One focuses on the Nativity, and the other five on his Passion and life post- Resurrection. The plaques decorated at least two liturgical objects since their creation, including, from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century, the base of an altarpiece in Hildesheim Cathedral. A wooden board discovered in the cathedral’s crypt in 1989 suggests they were originally arranged on an altar frontal (see illustration, which shows that some of the scenes are missing).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Six Enamel Plaques
  • Date: late 12th century
  • Culture: German (Hildesheim)
  • Medium: Champlevé enamel, copper alloy, and gilding
  • Dimensions: 2 Vertical plaques: Height: 12 15/16 - 13 in. (32.9-33 cm); Length: 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm); Thickness: 3/16 - 2 3/8 in. (0.4-0.6 cm); 4 Horizontal plaques: Height: 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm); Width: 15 7/16 - 15 9/16 in. (39.2-39.5 cm)
  • Classification: Enamels
  • Credit Line: Dom-Museum Hildesheim (DS 30)
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters