Hezilo chandelier | |
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Year | Eleventh century |
Type | Romanesque art |
Medium | Gilt copper |
Dimensions | 600 cm(240 in) |
Location | Hildesheim, Germany |
52°08′56″N9°56′47″E / 52.1489°N 9.9464°E Coordinates: 52°08′56″N9°56′47″E / 52.1489°N 9.9464°E |
The Hezilo chandelier (German : Heziloleuchter) is an 11th-century Romanesque wheel chandelier. It is part of the treasures of the Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, which has been a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 1985. The chandelier was most likely commissioned by Bishop Hezilo of Hildesheim, who rebuilt the cathedral after a fire. He probably also influenced the program of imagery and inscriptions. It is the largest of four extant wheel chandeliers of the period; the others surviving examples are the Azelin chandelier (also in Hildesheim), the Barbarossa chandelier in the Aachen Cathedral, and the Hartwig chandelier in the Abbey of Comburg.
During the restoration of the cathedral (from 2010 to 2014), the chandelier was installed in St. Godehard, a basilica since 1963 and the temporary bishop's seat. After the restoration of the cathedral, reopened on 15 August 2014, it was returned to its original location in the cathedral's nave.
The Hezilo chandelier is composed of a circular hoop which is 6 metres (20 ft) in diameter. The hoop is made of gilt copper and bears Latin inscriptions on the upper and lower edges. Between the inscriptions are three horizontal bands, with the middle band bulging outwards, which are richly decorated with openwork foliage. There are square merlons on top of the hoop holding seventy-two candles. [1]
Twelve towers and twelve gate-houses alternate along the outside of the hoop. The layout of the towers is a Greek cross with four apses (alternately rounded with domed roofs and square with pitched roofs) and a doorway. The upper parts of the towers have a narrower form, extending above the candles on the hoop and topped with large balls. Small statues or lamps probably originally stood inside these towers.
The gatehouses are flat, no higher than the hoop and are closed at the rear - where the ropes which hold up the chandelier are anchored. Each gate is flanked by two small but richly decorated round turrets and is crowned with battlements and the name of an apostle. It is likely that there were once images of these apostles in the doorways.
In the center, a large lamp is hung from a rope. The chandelier, also called a corona (crown) or circular chandelier, [1] hung in the nave until 1944, when it was removed to protect it from bombing. It hung above the altar in the crossing from the reopening of the cathedral in 1960 to 2010, when cathedral restoration work began. [2]
Bernward, Bishop of Hildesheim, gifted the first large wheel chandelier to the Hildesheim Cathedral built by Bishop Altfrid, and later also gave one to the adjacent church of St. Michael. [3] After Altfrid's cathedral burned down in 1046, Bishop Hezilo had it rebuilt with alterations, rejecting the plan of his predecessor Azelin to build a new cathedral, and in the nave he hung a "crown chandelier of shimmering gold", which is now known by his name as the Hezilo chandelier. [4] It is not clear what influence the earlier chandelier of Bernward had on the design of this replacement. [5]
The model for a chandelier as the symbol of the New Jerusalem was the great wheel chandelier in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre above Golgotha; the Azelin chandelier was designed to have the same symbolism. [6] Elements of Islamic art in the ornamentation of the chandelier support the identification with Jerusalem. [7]
The idea of the chandelier is the image of a floating city: according to the inscription, the Heavenly Jerusalem as target of the old and new covenants, fragrant with the scent of virtue, populated by the saints, lit by God himself, the source of all light.
— Bertram, p. 117
The Hezilo chandelier was at the liturgical center of the cathedral until the nineteenth century, with services held under its crown of light. Its location marked the beginning and end of the great processions of the cathedral chapter on Sundays and holidays. The chandelier served as a symbol of righteousness. Violations of the sovereignty of the diocese were solemnly resolved beneath it. [8]
Restoration work was carried out in the 16th century and again at the beginning of the 19th and 20th centuries, During the Second World War, the Hezilo chandelier was dismantled and removed from the cathedral — which was virtually destroyed by Allied bombing in March 1945. After the cathedral was rebuilt during the 1950s, the 900-year-old chandelier was placed in the crossing. It underwent extensive conservation work from 2002 until 2007. [2] In 2010, when restoration work on the cathedral began, it was moved to St. Godehard, a Romanesque church in Hildesheim and the temporary seat of the bishop.
Due to early modern restorations, the verse inscription has been significantly altered. The donor's name, "Hezilo" was written in a later script. The oldest version is in a manuscript from around 1500:
Latin | English |
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URBS EST SUBLIMIS MIRIS FABRICATA FIGURIS | The city on high is built with amazing shapes, |
MATER IVSTITIAE VIA VITAE GRATIA CVLPE | Mother, path of Justice, in thanks for life, |
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Leine River.
The Church of St. Michael is an early-Romanesque church in Hildesheim, Germany. It has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985 because of its outstanding Romanesque architecture and art. It is now a shared church, the main church being Lutheran and the crypt being Roman Catholic.
Hildesheim Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary or simply St. Mary's Cathedral, is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in the city centre of Hildesheim, Germany, that serves as the seat of the Diocese of Hildesheim. The cathedral has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985, together with the nearby St. Michael's Church because of its unique art and outstanding Romanesque architecture.
St Peter's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral in Worms, southern Germany.
Hezilo of Hildesheim, also known as Hezelo, Hettilo or Ethilo, was Bishop of Hildesheim from 1054 to 1079.
St. Bernward's Church is a Catholic church in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name refers to the bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (960-1022) who was canonized by Pope Celestine III.
St. Nicholas' Chapel is a former Roman Catholic parish church in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and is located in the southern part of the old city centre, opposite St. Godehard.
A wheel chandelier is a lighting installment, in the form of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the form of a spoked wheel. The oldest and most important examples derive from the Romanesque period.
The Barbarossa Chandelier was made on the order of Emperor Frederick I, nicknamed Barbarossa, and his wife Beatrice sometime between 1165 and 1170 and was installed under the cupola of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen Cathedral. The chandelier was a donation in honour of Mary, Mother of God, the patroness of Aachen Cathedral and simultaneously represented a tribute to the builder of the cathedral, Charlemagne.
The term Cross of Bernward principally refers to two Ottonian crosses in the cathedral museum in Hildesheim:
The Azelin chandelier is a Romanesque wheel chandelier, made in the 11th century for the Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 1985. It is the oldest of four extant wheel chandeliers from that period, along with the Hezilo chandelier, also in Hildesheim, the Barbarossa chandelier in the Aachen Cathedral, and the Hartwig chandelier in the Abbey of Comburg. It was believed to be donated by Bishop Azelin, however his predecessor Thietmar is more likely to be the patron. Therefore, the chandelier is also called the Thietmar chandelier (Thietmarleuchter).
The Bernward Doors are the two leaves of a pair of Ottonian or Romanesque bronze doors, made c. 1015 for Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. They were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (938–1022). The doors show relief images from the Bible, scenes from the Book of Genesis on the left door and from the life of Jesus on the right door. They are considered a masterpiece of Ottonian art, and feature the oldest known monumental image cycle in German sculpture, and also the oldest cycle of images cast in metal in Germany.
The Bernward Column also known as the Christ Column is a Romanesque bronze column, made c. 1000 for St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany, and regarded as a masterpiece of Ottonian art. It was commissioned by Bernward, thirteenth bishop of Hildesheim. It depicts images from the life of Jesus, arranged in a helix similar to Trajan's Column: it was originally topped with a cross or crucifix. During the 19th century, it was moved to a courtyard and later to Hildesheim Cathedral. During the restoration of the cathedral from 2010 to 2014, it was moved back to its original location in St. Michael's, but was returned to the Cathedral in August 2014.
St. Godehard is a Romanesque church in Hildesheim, Germany, formerly the church of a Benedictine abbey. It remained almost unaltered through the centuries and was not damaged much in World War II. In 1963, it was awarded the title of a Basilica minor by Pope Paul VI. It is a church of the Catholic parish Heilig Kreuz. The basilica has served as the "cathedral" of the bishop of Hildesheim from 1945 to 1960, when the Hildesheim Cathedral was destroyed and rebuilt, and from 2010, when restoration of the cathedral began. The Hezilo chandelier was installed in St. Godehard during the restoration time.
The Bronze baptismal font in the Hildesheim Cathedral is a late Romanesque baptismal font which was probably made in Hildesheim in the first third of the thirteenth century. It is noted for its pictorial decoration which is of the highest quality and for its perfect proportions and is considered among the most outstanding works of its type. For centuries the baptismal font stood in the western part of the nave, until it was moved to the last of the northern side-chapels in 1653. During the ongoing renovations of the cathedral (2010–2014) it is being displayed in the Bode Museum in Berlin. After the completion of the renovation work, it will be placed in the centre of the nave under the Hezilo chandelier.
Azelin was Bishop of Hildesheim from 1044 until 1054.
The Tomb of Bruno the Priest is grave monument, which is an outstanding example of Romanesque stonework and composition. It was set up after 1194 and is located on the south wall of the choir of Hildesheim Cathedral not far from the Thousand-year rose.
The Hildesheim Cathedral Museum is the treasury and diocesan museum of Hildesheim, which illustrates over a thousand years of art and church history in Lower Saxony. It is located in historic rooms off the southern transept of the Hildesheim Cathedral. During the cathedral renovations of 2010, the nearby church of St Antonius and part of the cathedral cloisters were converted into display rooms for the museum.
The Great Gandersheim Conflict was a conflict between the Archbishops of Mainz and the Bishops of Hildesheim concerning the jurisdiction over Gandersheim Abbey. It lasted from 987 to 1030, during the reign of the Ottonian emperors Otto III and Henry II as well as of their Salian successor Conrad II.
Hildesheim Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery or charterhouse in Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany.
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