Maastricht Binding Case: the Crucifixion and the Symbols of the Evangelists
Unknown · 1000-1050, probably c. 1020-1030
Made to look like a jewelled gospel book, the golden box was in fact a case that protected a precious text. At the centre of the lid the Crucifixion is worked in repoussé gold: beneath a rounded arch Christ hangs on the cross between the Virgin and Saint John, with personifications of the sun and moon above the arms of the cross. Inscriptions give Christ's words: Behold your mother, Behold your son. The four corners hold the symbols of the evangelists, named John, Matthew, Luke and Mark, and borders of filigree, cloisonné enamel, pearls and cabochon gems surround the whole. Another inscription states that a woman named Beatrix had it made in honour of Almighty God and all the saints; who she was remains uncertain.
So many goldsmith and enamelling techniques together point to a court workshop of the late Ottonian or early Salian empire, around ten twenty to ten thirty. The box is probably the one recorded in sixteen seventy seven in the treasury of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, where it held the text on which the dukes of Brabant swore their oath. It came to Paris in seventeen ninety five with the seizures of the revolutionary armies.
Did You Know? For centuries the dukes of Brabant may have sworn their oath of office on the text kept inside this golden box.
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