The Proserpina sarcophagus is a Roman marble sarcophagus from the first quarter of the third century AD, in which Charlemagne was probably interred on 28 January 814 in Aachen cathedral. It is displayed today in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury.
The Proserpina sarcophagus is a Roman marble sarcophagus from the first quarter of the third century AD, in which Charlemagne was probably interred on 28 January 814 in Aachen cathedral. It is displayed today in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury.
The ancient myth of the Rape of Persephone is depicted in high relief on the sarcophagus. Persephone is carried away to the underworld by Pluto, the god of the underworld, with the help of Athena and Eros, on a quadriga led by the divine messenger Hermes.
The hellhound Cerberus is found at Hermes' feet near the death god Tartarus. The giant Enceladus rises out of the Earth, to receive the chariot. The nymph Cyane lies at the bottom under the chariot. On a chariot steered by a winged divinity and drawn by dragons, Demeter, Persephone's mother, follows the baggage with torches in her hands. Meanwhile, Aphrodite flies, an accomplice to the kidnapping. Below her, two handmaidens of Persephone frightened have fallen to the Earth and try to protect their baskets full of flowers.
On the left narrow side in flat relief, two handmaidens of Persephone and a boy are picking flowers. The right narrow side shows a child, who is accompanied by two shepherds and carries fruit in the cornucopia of a Genius.
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The sarcophagus was made in the first quarter of the 3rd century AD in a workshop in the city of Rome, from carrara marble. There are many more Roman sarcophagi with depictions of the Rape of Persephone.
Whether Charlemagne was buried in the Persephone Sarcophagus in 814 is disputed among historians. The sources on the death and burial of Charlemagne do not expressly mention it. Nevertheless, it has been assumed that this sarcophagus could have been found among "the columns and the marble" that Charlemagne had brought from Rome and Ravenna for the building for his Palatine chapel, according to Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni (ch.26). [1] In that case, he would have been buried in the sarcophagus in the manner of a Western Roman Emperor.
On the other hand, the historian Dieter Hägermann suspected that the Persephone Sarcophagus was first used to store the bones of Charlemagne in 1165 after the exhumation of Charlemagne's grave by Frederick Barbarossa. Hägermann argued this on the grounds that the sources on Charlemagne's funeral in 814 say nothing of the sarcophagus, but instead speak of the interment of Charlemagne in the floor of the Palatine chapel. Hägermann considered it unlikely that anyone would have just buried such a finely carved marble sarcophagus in the floor of the church. [2]
The reason why someone would have selected a sarcophagus with "heathen" motifs for the burial of a Christian emperor could lie in a Christian interpretation of the Persephone story: the fact that later in the myth Ceres succeeds in bringing Persephone up by her request that her daughter be allowed to return to the Earth for two thirds of the year was perhaps interpreted as a metaphor for the resurrection of Jesus.
By 1215 at the latest, the bones of Charlemagne must have been taken from the sarcophagus, since in this year they are attested in the Karlsschrein. From this time, the empty sarcophagus stood in the lower chamber of the octagon of Aachen Cathedral – only the front side visible through a grill – presumably with the wooden figure of Charlemagne from the 14th century which is now exhibited in the Treasury and was probably part of a so-called Karlsmemorie (Charlemagne Memorial). In 1794, Napoleon Bonaparte had the sarcophagus brought to Paris together with the ancient columns of the cathedral, but in 1815 it returned to Aachen again and was installed in the Nikolauskapelle. From 1843 it was in the Michael gallery of the Nikolauskapelle, which was not accessible to the public. In the attempt to hoist the sarcophagus up to the gallery, it took heavy damage. Since 1979 it has been on display in the Cathedral Schatzkammer.
Media related to Proserpina sarcophagus (Aachen) at Wikimedia Commons
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Aachen is the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 252,000 inhabitants.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo. In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like her other siblings except Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus.
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone, also called Kore or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage.
Proserpina or Proserpine is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose principal cult was housed in the Aventine temple of the grain-goddess Ceres, along with the wine god Liber.
Aachen Cathedral is a Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the cathedral of the Diocese of Aachen.
The Palatine Chapel in Aachen is an early medieval chapel and remaining component of Charlemagne's Palace of Aachen in what is now Germany. Although the palace itself no longer exists, the chapel was preserved and now forms the central part of Aachen Cathedral. It is Aachen's major landmark and a central monument of the Carolingian Renaissance. The chapel held the remains of Charlemagne. Later it was appropriated by the Ottonians and coronations were held there from 936 to 1531.
The Rape of Persephone, or Abduction of Persephone, is a classical mythological subject in Western art, depicting the abduction of Persephone by Hades. In this context, the word Rape refers to the traditional translation of the Latin raptus which refers to bride kidnapping rather than the potential ensuing sexual violence.
The Rape of Proserpina, more accurately translated as the Abduction of Proserpina, is a large Baroque marble group sculpture by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, executed between 1621 and 1622, when Bernini's career was in its early stage. The group, finished when Bernini was just 23 years old, depicts the abduction of Proserpina, who is seized and taken to the underworld by the god Pluto. It features Pluto holding Proserpina aloft, and a Cerberus to symbolize the border into the underworld that Pluto carries Proserpina into.
The Palace of Aachen was a group of buildings with residential, political, and religious purposes chosen by Charlemagne to be the center of power of the Carolingian Empire. The palace was located north of the current city of Aachen, today in the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. Most of the Carolingian palace was built in the 790s but the works went on until Charlemagne's death in 814. The plans, drawn by Odo of Metz, were part of the program of renovation of the kingdom decided by the ruler. Today much of the palace is ruined, but the Palatine Chapel has been preserved and is considered a masterpiece of Carolingian architecture and a characteristic example of architecture from the Carolingian Renaissance.
The Karlsschrein is located in Aachen Cathedral and contains the remains of Charlemagne. It was completed in 1215 in Aachen at the command of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne's remains had been in the Palatine Chapel of the cathedral until 1165, when Frederick Barbarossa placed the remains in a sarcophagus beneath the floor of the cathedral.
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 Throne of Charlemagne is a throne erected in the 790s by Charlemagne, as one of the fittings of his palatine chapel in Aachen and placed in the Octagon of the church. Until 1531, it served as the coronation throne of the King of the Romans, being used at a total of thirty-one coronations. As a result, especially in the eleventh century, it was referred to as the totius regni archisolium. Charlemagne himself was not crowned on this throne, but instead in the Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome by Pope Leo III in 800 AD.
The Aachen penny of Charlemagne, a Carolingian silver coin, was found on 22 February 2008 in the foundations of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, during archaeological work in the northeastern bay of the hexadecagon. This is the first discovery of coinage from the time of Charlemagne at Aachen.
The Bust of Charlemagne is a reliquary from around 1350 which contains the top part of Charlemagne's skull. The reliquary is part of the treasure kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. Made in the Mosan region, long a centre of high-quality metalwork, the bust is a masterpiece both of late Gothic metalwork and of figural sculpture.
The Aachen Cathedral Treasury is a museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen under the control of the cathedral chapter, which houses one of the most important collections of medieval church artworks in Europe. In 1978, the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, along with Aachen Cathedral, was the first monument on German soil to be entered in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The treasury contains works from Late Antique, Carolingian, Ottonian, Staufen, and Gothic times. The exhibits are displayed in premises connected to the cathedral cloisters.
The Aachen Gospels are a Carolingian illuminated manuscript which was created at the beginning of the ninth century by a member of the Ada School. The Evangeliary belongs to a manuscript group which is referred to as the Ada Group or Group of the Vienna Coronation Gospels. It is part of the church treasury of Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, now Aachen Cathedral, and is today kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. The Treasury Gospels and the more recent Ottonian Liuthar Gospels are the two most significant medieval manuscripts on display there.
The so-called Sabre of Charlemagne is an early sabre of Hungarian (Magyar) type which has been exceptionally preserved as part of the Aachen regalia of the Holy Roman Empire. Along with the rest of the imperial regalia from both Aachen and Nuremberg, it is now kept in the Hofburg Palace, Vienna.
A Carolingian-era equestrian statuette in bronze depicting either Charlemagne or his grandson Charles the Bald, a rare example of surviving Carolingian sculpture in metal, is exhibited in the Louvre Museum. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries it was kept in Metz Cathedral.
The Talisman of Charlemagne is a 9th-century Carolingian reliquary encolpion that may once have belonged to Charlemagne and is purported to contain a fragment of the True Cross. It is the only surviving piece of goldwork which can be connected with Charlemagne himself with some degree of probability, but the connection has been seriously questioned. The talisman is now kept in Rheims in the Palace of Tau.
The Velletri Sarcophagus is a Roman sarcophagus from 140–150 CE, displaying Greek and possible Asiatic influence. It features Hercules and other pagan deities framed by columned registers of classic spiral-fluted Doric and Ionic columnar styles, creating a theatrical border around the figures. It was created shortly after the Roman conversion to burial practice when Romans went from using cremation to burying their dead, due to new ideas of an afterlife.
