Rebuilding St. Kunibert: Artistic Integration, Patronage, and Institutional Identities in Thirteenth-Century Cologne by Adam Robert Stead A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto © Copyright by Adam Robert Stead 2013 Rebuilding St. Kunibert: Artistic Integration, Patronage, and Institutional Identities in Thirteenth-Century Cologne Adam Robert Stead Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto 2013 Abstract This dissertation examines the architecture and art of the early-thirteenth-century collegiate church of St. Kunibert in Cologne. Rebuilt completely from circa 1210 to 1247, St. Kunibert retains most of its original architectural fabric and an array of monumental images and liturgical furnishings from the time of the rebuilding. The latter include stained glass windows, frescoes, altars, a pavement, and reliquaries, all preserved in situ in the choir in the east end. One of medieval Cologne’s preeminent religious houses, St. Kunibert provides a unique opportunity to investigate both the different modalities and the significance of artistic integration in the medieval church. Taking a synthetic approach to the building and its corpus of imagery, this study probes the relationship between high clerical artistic patronage and institutional identity in Cologne in the early thirteenth century. Part I examines the extended historical background of the rebuilding project, beginning with the foundation of the church by St. Kunibert (ca. 590–663?). This examination of the institution and the predecessor churches up to the rebuilding is followed in Part II by a detailed rereading of the chronology, design, and sources of the architectural fabric of the thirteenth-century church. The concluding chapter of Part II then situates the canonical community’s architectural patronage within the institutional and ecclesiastical political context of the contemporary Church of Cologne. ii Part III analyzes the community’s visual construction of institutional identity through integrative readings of groups of images, objects, and furnishings in the space of the clerical choir. These final three chapters address numerous overarching topics and issues, including the staging of the past; art and the liturgy; the cult of saints and relics; pictorial narrative; materiality and spolia; and individual artistic patronage among the canons and elite members of the urban laity. But one of several renovatio projects in Cologne at this time, the enterprise at St. Kunibert illuminates art and architecture’s central role as active, integrated agents in the formation of identity among high medieval religious communities. iii Acknowledgements Many individuals and institutions contributed to the genesis, progress, and completion of this dissertation. I am deeply grateful to have received so much support and assistance, and it is a pleasure to express my gratitude here. First and foremost, I would like to thank my Doktorvater, Professor Adam S. Cohen. His guidance and expertise have shaped this study in indelible ways, and his kindness, encouragement, and—not least—humour have sustained me and my work from the outset. I consider myself privileged to have worked with such a caring and engaging mentor during this formative stage in my career. I would also like to thank Professor Jill Caskey, Professor Joseph Goering, Professor Robert A. Maxwell, and Professor Jens Wollesen for reading and commenting on various drafts of this work. I have been fortunate to have had several outstanding teachers of art history, medieval and otherwise, at the undergraduate and graduate levels; although many of them were not involved directly in this dissertation, they have continued to serve as mentors and as sources of inspiration. In particular, I would like to single out Professor Kathryn Brush, whose infectious enthusiasm for medieval Germany kindled my interest in this field while I was an undergraduate and who first sent me to Germany on an academic exchange. This study is the fruition of those initial intellectual encounters. I am also particularly indebted to Dr. Linda Safran for her assistance during the earliest stages of my dissertation research. This dissertation would not have been possible without the generous financial support of several institutions. Long-term support was provided by a CGS Doctoral Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and by the University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship. Travel grants from the Department of Art and the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto allowed me to undertake additional fieldwork in Germany. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all. iv In Germany, my greatest debt is to the community of the parish of St. Kunibert in Cologne, who graciously opened their church to me, my notepad, and my camera for weeks at a time. In particular, I would like to thank Pfarrer Frank Müller, Monika Waizner, and, above all, Andrzej Nowak, custos extraordinaire. Numerous individuals and research institutions in Cologne and elsewhere in Germany facilitated my research. My sincere thanks for advice and assistance of all kinds are due to Dr. Joachim Deeters and Dr. Letha Böhringer, both of the Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln; Dr. Hiltrud Westermann-Angerhausen, Museum Schnütgen, Cologne; Dr. Joachim Oepen, Historisches Archiv des Erzbistums Köln, Cologne; Rita Wagner, Graphische Sammlung, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum; and the staffs of the Rheinisches Amt für Denkmalpflege, Pulheim, the Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln, and the Hessische Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt. I also wish to thank Dr. Clemens Kosch and Dr. Uwe Gast (Corpus Vitrearum Germany, Freiburg im Breisgau) for their eager interest in and discussion of different facets of this study. Marion Kiesendahl of the Universitätsbibliothek Greifswald, finally, went above and beyond the call of duty to make a personal research space available to me during the critical final stretch of writing. Many friends on both sides of the Atlantic—my colleagues in the Department of Art at the University of Toronto and friends in Cologne and Greifswald—have been a constant source of encouragement. Sven Janiszewski, Johannes Schlichte, and Johannes Meisner deserve special mention for providing moral support and much-needed levity during the final push. My single greatest debt, finally, is to my family. Though they all undoubtedly heard much more than they probably ever wished to about St. Kunibert and thirteenth-century Germany, their belief in me and their interest in my work has been unflagging. My parents, Kathy and Craig Stead, and my brothers, Brent and Andrew, have surrounded me with love, encouragement, and unfailing support throughout my graduate education; words can hardly encapsulate just how profound has been their contribution. From beginning to end, however, v one individual has been tethered to this project more than she likely ever dreamed possible—my loving Lebensgefährtin Jana. Time and again, her love, emotional support, and the example set by her dedication to her own studies propelled me forward. I am blessed to have such wonderful people in my life, and I know they will all forgive me for continuing to devote much of my time to my other “family”—St. Kunibert and the familia of churches in Cologne. vi Table of Contents Volume 1 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………...iv Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………….vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….x List of Appendices……………………………………………………………………………..xxv List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………… xxvi Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….1 Part I Chapter 1. The Collegiate Church of St. Kunibert down to circa 1200………………………...12 1. St. Kunibert, Bishop of Cologne: A Biography between Fact and Legend…………12 2. The Church of St. Clement and the so-called Kunibertbrunnen: The Archaeological and Textual Evidence……………………………………................30 3. Uncertain Beginnings: The Origins of the Stift St. Kunibert………………………..57 4. The Eleventh-Century Church Building, the Tomb of Rudolf von Schleswig, and the Church Building in the Twelfth Century……………………………………67 5. The Stift at the Turn of the Thirteenth Century: Internal Constitution and Spiritual and Social Functions………………………………………………………………...86 Part II. Fabrica Chapter 2. The Apse……………………………………………………………………………97 1. Revisiting the Start Date of Construction at St. Kunibert…………………………...97 2. The “Crypt”………………………………………………………………………...118 3. The Apse: Plan, Elevation, Structure………………………………………………121 4. The Apse: Conclusions…………………………………………………………….163 Chapter 3. The East Transept………………………………………………………………….166 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………...166 2. The East Transept: Plan, Elevation, Structure……………………………………..169 3. The East End: The Exterior………………………………………………………...193 4. The Architect of the East End: Xanten or Cologne?.................................................203 5. The East End: Conclusions………………………………………………………...207 Chapter 4. The Nave and the West Transept………………………………………………….210 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………..210 2. The Nave and the West Transept: Chronology…………………………………….211 3. The Nave: Plan, Proportion, Design……………………………………………….237 vii 4. The West Transept…………………………………………………………………264 5. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………...277 Chapter 5. Building Institutional Identity in Early-Thirteenth-Century