2-721-247 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Hildesheim Portable Altar, c1160-1170, (1881). Etching of a consecrated tablet for use as an altar, made in the 12th century at Hildesheim in Germany, possibly for the Cathedral of Hildesheim. It is made of porphyry, framed in wood, with plates of engraved gilt copper, and depicts the Trinity, Christ's crucifixion, and saints St Boniface, St Pancras, St Peter, St Paul and, at the base of the cross, St Simplicius and St Faustinus. The Latin inscription refers to the numerous saints' relics within the altar. From "The South Kensington Museum", a book of engraved illustrations, with descriptions, of the works of art in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (formerly known as the South Kensington Museum). [Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London, 1881]