The Crucifixion Group from Harju-Risti 65

The present article examines the The Crucifixion Calvary sculptures located in the Harju- Risti Church till 1958 but currently Group from displayed in the Niguliste Museum, dwells on the question of their age Harju-Risti and place of manufacture, and studies for which churches the sculptures were initially commissioned. Krista Andreson The crucifix (Christ on the cross) under examination together with the Summary sculptures of St Mary and St John the Evangelist did not originally form an The medieval crucifix together with integral Calvary group but were joined the sculptures of the Virgin Mary and together at some later time. This opinion John the Evangelist located in the is primarily supported by differences Harju-Risti Church till 1958 and now exhibited in the Niguliste Museum in dimensions – the figure of Christ (175 did not originally form an integral cm) is proportionally smaller than that Calvary group but were joined of St Mary and St John (227 cm and 217 together later. The crucifix, made in respectively). Taking into account both the last quarter of the 14th century, is the central position of the sculpture from significant due to the lily motifs on the cross and the rare material in the the iconographic aspect and its location medieval wooden sculpture – beech high up below the vaults, the crucifix is, (fagus silvatica) – which was used in general, bigger than the accompanying to carve the figure of Christ. The figures. Secondly, differences also surface crucifix was brought to the Harju- in the material used: while the cross, St Risti Church from the neighbouring Mary and John are made of oak, common Padise Monastery and, by Cistercian tradition, was viewable from both to medieval sculpture, the figure of sides, indicated by the residues of Christ is made of beech (fagus silvatica). polychromy on the back of the cross. Furthermore, the different structure The magnificent accompanying (habitat) of the oak used for making the figures crafted in the 1410s–1430s accompanying figures and the cross is originate probably from some bigger church in Tallinn (St Olav?). evident through initial visual observation. Also an examination of the sculptures’ technological aspects makes it clear that their merger into an integral group in the small Harju-Risti Church must have been secondary. Consequently, the accompanying figures and the crucifix can be treated separately when designating them spatially and temporally. The underlying theories, acceptable until now, were formulated by Sten Karling in 1946 and Kersti Markus in 1992. Karling connected the master of krista andreson 66

the three figures with the Meuse region the general type used in the portrayal of in the 1370s–1380s. However, there have the Harju-Risti Christ’s face, hair and been further specifications in professional beard on both the west and east sides of literature due to the dating of comparative the River Rhine, therefore making an exact examples. Crucifixes from Aldeneyk specification of the place of manufacture and Looz, named as key examples and according to an analysis of style and type dated today to the 14th century, bear no in today’s state of research impossible. In stylistic similarity with the Christ of a situation where non-traditional beech Harju-Risti. In addition, the examples was used in carving the Christ, we find from the Low Countries associated with some help from material-specific studies. the accompanying figures are dated today Beech was not used for wooden sculptures to the first half of the 14th century. As originating from larger centres of the Low Karling fails to name a single Meuse-region Countries, including Brabant. Relying on sculpture originating from the end of the guild regulations, we can also rule out century, the author is not convinced of the Lübeck and Paris as possible regions. connection of the dating and the place of In the opinion of the author, the manufacture of the Harju-Risti sculptures widespread dating to the end of the 14th with the Low Countries of the 1380s. century in studies focusing on the St Mary Kersti Markus dates the St John and St John of Harju-Risti stem from the the Evangelist and St Mary figures to ‘old-fashioned’ general type attributed to the 1390s and the crucifix to the 1400s, the sculptures, which one can encounter whereas the place where the crucifix was already in the early 14th century. On the made, according to Markus, was Brabant other hand, one can notice here extreme and that of the accompanying figures attention to detail, expression and was the Low Countries. Presupposing a imitation typical of the portrayal of a face common origin of the Harju-Risti figures, in the early 15th century. These figures Markus does not provide any examples represent the ‘retrospective’ tendency, that would assert a connection between associated with the closing stages of the the accompanying figures and the Low ‘international Gothic’, and were made Countries. The opinion of the author between the 1410s–1430s. Although relies predominantly on a comparison the dating is supported by examples of the crucifix with the sitting sculpture originating mainly from the Lübeck and of God the Father from Hakendover, in Lower Saxon areas, and point occasionally the Brabant region, in the retable from also to possible stylistic similarities, the Goddelijke Zaligmakerkerk (1400–1404). accompanying figures of Harju-Risti offer According to the author, the figure opportunities for comparison with the God the Father from Hakendover does not artwork of different European regions provide close points of contact with the of the period. As a result, the possible Christ of Harju-Risti, but indicates the place of manufacture remains open to usage of ‘beuneveulish’ (André Beauneveu, future research. Continuous work to years of activity c. 1360–1402) motifs specify the origin of the three sculptures and thus supports dating to the period can be supported through technological between the last quarter of the 14th and and material-specific studies, and by the early 15th century. One can encounter The Crucifixion Group from Harju-Risti 67 continual gathering of comparative in 1559. The key arguments list the material and detailed comparison. connection between the Padise Monastery The three sculptures forming the and Risti Church in the Middle Ages Calvary group were situated till 1958 on (patronage). The present article, besides the eastern wall of the nave of the Harju- dealing with iconographical meanings Risti Church, south of the triumphal arch. and connections of sculptures, touches The assumed location is also the eastern upon the art traditions of the Cistercians. wall of the choir. Both locations for the The monumental crucifixes of the sculptures are unambiguously secondary, Cistercians were located in places that as figures are meant to also be viewed dominated the entire church interior and from the back side. To support this claim, remained, until the late Middle-Ages, two- we can find polychromy residues on the sided – viewable from the side of the monks back side of the cross. On the crossing and that of the laymen’s choir. Therefore, point of its arms, one can see fragments they were also decorated on both sides. of the contours of Christ’s head. On the In the case of the surviving examples, back side of the cross’s right arm, a rhomb the painted crucifix is mainly depicted is clearly distinguishable, surrounding on the side that faces the monks’ choir. an undefined outline of an image. The Although disparities between the rules other arms of the cross have only partial and reality can be detected already in traces of polychromy. These fragments the early period of the Order’s existence, of colours definitely originate from the the two-sided usage of the Harju-Risti period prior to the move to the Harju-Risti crucifix and the possible connection Church, where the figures gained a thick with Cistercian traditions are in fact layer of lime, similar to that on the wall, supported by the residues of polychromy by the beginning of the 20th century at on the back of the cross, especially the the latest. The need to display the back fragmentary contours of Christ’s head side is also indicated by the accompanying in the crossing point of the arms. figures: the sculptures are carved from Another factor also supporting 3/4 of a tree trunk and covered with a lid the original location of the crucifix in on the back side, which has been given Padise is associated with the possible a form marking the drapery of a garb. interpretations of the lily-crucifix, The Calvary figures of Harju-Risti are, quite rare in our region. Depending on from an iconographic vantage point and the context, a lily symbolised Christ, due to their size, sculptures of the triumph the Virgin Mary and the Church in its group, which is traditionally located in arbor bona meaning in the Middle Ages. the focal position of the church – in the An important link for opening up the zone of the triumph arch. Given the low- iconography of the lily crucifixes is positioned zone of the triumph arch in March 25 – the Lady Day – known in the Harju-Risti, it is improbable that their Middle Ages as the day when Christ was original location was in a country church. crucified. Here the Cistercian background The dominant opinion in professional combines with the cult of Mary, so widely literature is that the group reached practised inside the Order. In addition, we Harju-Risti from the neighbouring Padise find the lily-tailed unicorn, depicted on Cistercian abbey after its secularization krista andreson 68

the most eastward figural console of the of the Calvary figures, that medieval northern wall of the Padise Monastery. Calvary groups, contrary to other Catholic In early professional literature, the artwork, also fit into the post-Reformation meaning of reliefs was revealed through Church. This excludes the option that the dualistic key (bad-good) of ethical the accompanying figures were brought categories, but the unicorn can here to or bought for a little country church also symbolise Christ, his incarnation because of their inappropriateness to a or even Mary in her virginity, which is Lutheran church. Thus a functional change emphasized with the depiction of the in the original location (church) could lily on the tip of the animal’s tail. have been the reason which explains the Contrary to the existing positions, the removal of the crucifix from Padise to author does not consider the association Harju-Risti, for example the secularization of the sculptures of the Virgin Mary and of the monastery. It is plausible that the John the Evangelist with the Cistercians connection between St Olav’s Church and and their origin from the abbey of the the Cistercian St Michael Monastery in Padise Monastery possible. First, no groups Tallinn proved to also be decisive for the of triumph crucifixes dated to the late accompanying figures. As a result, the Middle Ages or earlier have been preserved moving of St Mary and John into the small within the Cistercian Order. This is clear Harju-Risti Church could be associated from the fact that in comparison with with a change in the monastery’s the Calvary groups of the multitude of ownership during the post-Reformation figures outside the Order’s monasteries, period. One also cannot rule out the the appearance of Cistercian crucifixes had possibility that at one point the figures to be reduced to a minimum – in terms sustained some major damage (especially of splendour, decorative additions and the St John figure), whereupon they were accompanying figures. Furthermore, the dismantled, repaired and brought to existence of the accompanying figures Harju-Risti for an unknown reason. next to the Crucified does not correspond with the principle of the two-sided Translated by Martin Jaigma usage of the abbey’s triumph-zone. proof-read by Richard Adang It is possible that the majestic figures of St Mary and John were originally commissioned for a bigger church in Tallinn, where construction work took place in the first quarter of the 15th century, also including the triumph-zone. In the search for a possible location, most of Tallinn’s medieval churches should be taken in account. Regarding its immense size and building chronology (the choir being finished in 1420–1425), St Olav’s Church could be singled out as being most likely. It is important to remember, while researching the original location