Grave Panel of Friedrich of Wettin
The older of the two well-known grave panels of archbishops (see also grave panel of Wichmann of Seeburg) was made at the Magdeburg foundry in 1152. It is dedicated to Friedrich of Wettin. It features his figure curving from a flat plate bordered only by a circulating framework. Although the illustration of an individual person, i.e. a portrait, was not normally expected in the 12th century, here we have a clearly defined portrayal of a personality. The front view of the figure has a severe appearance, and it carries all the insignia of its episcopate. The robe hangs almost without folds, and the only relief is found in the finely carved interior drawings. The upright crosier, decorated only around the crook, is held firmly in the archbishop’s left hand. He is gazing straight ahead rather than in the direction of the blessing he is bestowing with his right hand. On the panel Friedrich of Wettin appears as a figure of officialdom. Little is known about either his term in office or about his work as an archbishop, but it is thought that he took part in the fight against the Slavs. Might this be the explanation for an important detail of representation? At its lower end, the crosier ends abruptly and is shown boring into the head of a small figure, the antique Dornauszieher. Although the modern tendency is to assess antiques from a primarily aesthetic point of view, we have to take into account the earlier, negative tendency to view anything antique as somehow pertaining to heathenism, which had to be conquered by Christianity. Does the Dornauszieher here represent heathenism? And can the spike of the crosier boring into the head of the small figure be understood as a concrete reference to the archbishop’s victorious battle against heathenism Although this idea can be neither proven nor ruled out, it’s worth noting that such a detail representing triumph would fit the composition very well.