Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
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Title:
Lothar Crystal
Creator:
Description:
This rock crystal bears eight scenes illustrating the Biblical account of Susanna. The scenes, accompanied by inscriptions, are meant to be read in a clockwise direction beginning at the very top. Here Susanna is accosted by the Elders in an enclosed garden as two servants run to assist her. Next, the Elders appear in the house of Joachim and order Susanna brought before them. This is followed by the Elders' holding their hands above Susanna's head as a sign of judgement. Next, an official takes Susanna by the hand but is confronted by Daniel. Daniel then rebukes an Elder. The next scene depicts the conviction of the Elders, and the final scene shows their execution by stoning. In the center of the crystal, contained in a roundel, is the rescued Susanna standing before an enthroned Daniel. Genevra Kornbluth has argued that this object was commissioned as a means of demonstrating Lothar's own good judgment and sense of justice. In pursuit of a divorce from his wife Theutberga, Lothar may have seen the crystal as a counterblast against Hincmar's criticisms of his efforts to dissolve the marriage.
Source:
Wikimedia Commons
Rights:
Subject
(See Also)
:
Kings
Lothar II, King of Lotharingia
Susanna (Biblical Figure)
Geographic Area:
Germany
Century:
9; 15 (frame)
Date:
ca. 855-869
Related Work:
Current Location:
London, British Museum, 1855,1201.5; BL.1295 (Bernal Collection)
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category):
Digital images; Sculptures
Artistic Type (Material/Technique):
Rock crystal; Gilt copper frame
Donor:
Layman; Lothar II, King of Lotharingia (b. 795, d.855)
Height/Width/Length(cm):
//
Inscription:
Around upper portion of central roundel image:
Lotharius rex Francorum me fieri iussit
[Lothar, King of the Franks, caused me to be made.]
Related Resources:
Genevra Kornbluth, "The Susanna Crystal of Lothar II: Chastity, the Church, and Royal Justice," Gesta 31.1 (1992): 25-39; Stuart Airlie, "Private Bodies and the Body Politic in the Divorce Case of Lothar II," Past & Present 161 (1998): 3-38; Object page f