Cross of Lothair

Examples include the Cross of Lothair in Aachen.

The black velvet background is modern, originally it was a golden field inlaid with semi-precious stones - see for example the Cross of Lothair.

The Cross of Lothair is sometimes called the "Cross of Lothar"

Early Western examples include the Gero Cross and the reverse of the Cross of Lothair, both from the end of the 10th century.

As in the rest of Europe, metalwork was still the most prestigious form of art, in works like the jewelled Cross of Lothair, made about 1000, probably in Cologne.

A gem with his portrait that was probably Lothair's personal seal was set a hundred years after his death into the processional Cross of Lothair in Aachen Cathedral.

Notable early examples include the Cross of Justin II (possibly a hanging votive cross originally), Cross of Lothair, and Cross of Cong.

This addition may indicate that it was incorporated in a reliquary or some other medieval object, as with another cameo of Augustus used as a centrepiece for the Cross of Lothair.

He is the namesake of the Lothair Crystal, which he probably commissioned, and of the Cross of Lothair, which was made over a century after his death but incorporates a rock crystal bearing his name and image from his seal.

After the Anschluss, Hitler ordered the old imperial regalia (the Imperial Crown, Imperial Sword, Cross of Lothair, the Holy Lance and other items) residing in Vienna to be transferred to Nuremberg, where they were kept between 1424 and 1796.

The Aachen cathedral treasury displays sacral masterpieces of the late Classical, Carolingian, Ottonian and Staufian period - among them there are some unique exhibits like the Cross of Lothair, the Bust of Charlemagne and the Persephone sarcophagus.

Similar gem-studded styles of decoration were used for the most precious objects of a number of types at this period, in particular processional or altar crosses such as the Cross of Lothair and book-covers such as that of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram.