LECTURE: The Roskilde Crucifix - Roskilde as an Art Centre in the 13th Century

The construction of Roskilde Cathedral sparked extensive production of church art - crucifixes and saint images in painted and gilded wood - and the cathedral played a central role in spreading this art to other churches in the diocese. The highlight was a monumental crucifix group above the entrance to the new choir, containing a golden cross - the so-called Roskilde Cross - found hidden in the head of the Christ figure, wrapped in silk. Like the building itself, the group was inspired by France and probably executed by French craftsmen.

Today, only a few fragments remain. When Roskilde Cathedral held an auction of old furnishings in 1806, the crucifix group was sold to a coppersmith who used most of the wood as fuel. What survives includes the relief of the women at the tomb.

Historian and medieval archaeologist Ebbe Nyborg attempts in this lecture to reconstruct the group and trace its influence as a model - in Denmark and beyond - both among the Roskilde group's own masters and among subsequent workshops believed to have been based in Roskilde. Nyborg was affiliated with the National Museum as a researcher and editor of "Danmarks Kirker" from 1978 to 2018 and was instrumental in discovering the cathedral's original large crucifix. Conservator Verner Thomasen, who oversaw the restoration of the cathedral's altarpiece after the 1968 fire, also contributes to the lecture.

The lecture takes place on 27 October at 19:00-21:00 at Roskilde Museum, Sankt Ols Stræde 3, 4000 Roskilde. Tickets cost 100 kr. (+ fee) and are purchased via billetto.dk. Members of the museum association have free admission but must book a free ticket in advance and bring it with them. Read more at roskildemuseum.dk.