Interactive image

Reading ConnectionsAurell explains that by the tenth century Ottonian kingship became explicitly Christocentric, rooted in the theology articulated in the Ordo of Mainz, where royal authority is understood to derive from Christ’s own kingship. The ruler is framed as vicarius and typus Christi, participating in Christ’s earthly rule while remaining distinct from the clergy. The ivory of Christ crowning Otto II and Theophanu visually enacts this theological model. Christ does not simply bless the rulers, he crowns them, embodying the concept of Christus Rex and making clear that imperial authority flows from divine kingship. Ottonian imagery increasingly emphasizes Christ as sovereign king rather than solely as victorious redeemer (Christ as King vs. Christ as Victor shift), and this object reflects that transformation.Holladay’s discussion of royal iconography further clarifies how this image operates politically. She demonstrates that crowns, scepters, and thrones were not merely decorative attributes but central instruments in defining and even constituting royal authority. Coronation rituals structured legitimacy through a sequence of symbolic actions involving regalia and enthronement. In the ivory, that entire constitutional process is compressed into a single sacred moment: Christ crowns the rulers. By depicting Christ Himself as the one who confers the crown, the image intensifies the political theology Holladay describes, presenting kingship as divinely authorized and the crown as a vehicle of sacred sovereignty rather than a simple ornament.

Context:This ivory connects directly to class discussion of manufacturing legitimacy after the collapse of the Carolingian Empire and the resulting power vacuum. The Ottonians, as Saxon rulers, did not automatically possess Roman or Byzantine authority, so they had to construct it visually and ritually. Like Charlemagne’s evocation of Ravenna in the Palatine Chapel at Aachen, Otto II’s coronation imagery draws from Byzantine imperial models to claim continuity. The marriage to Theophanu becomes politically crucial here — she carries Byzantine legitimacy, and the Ottonians amplify that connection through objects like this ivory and the marriage charter, which functioned as a simulacrum of Byzantine silk. In lecture, we also discussed how authority in this period is not simply secular. It is sacramental. The coronation ceremony includes unction (anointing), and the ruler’s authority is constituted through divine mediation. This ivory visualizes that theology by replacing the Pope with Christ himself. Rather than merely showing “divine approval,” it presents kingship as sustained through Christ. This reflects the Ottonian move toward Christus Rex imagery and the idea of the emperor acting in persona Christi. Finally, Week 8 emphasized how the Ottonians specialized production across cities to reinforce imperial identity. This ivory belongs to that luxury program. It participates in the same visual language as the Otto III Gospels and other coronation frontispieces, where Christ, saints, and personifications structure imperial power.

Subject:The subject is a coronation scene with Christ, enthroned and larger in scale, placing crowns on Otto II and Theophanu. This reflects the coronation ritual’s most sacred moment: the unction, when holy oil anoints the ruler. In reality, the Pope performs this act; in the image, Christ performs it directly. This visual substitution collapses sacred mediation into a single divine act and reinforces the idea that kingship is constituted through divine authority. The inclusion of both Greek and Latin inscriptions reinforces the subject’s dynastic significance. The bilingual text reflects Theophanu’s Byzantine background and visually enacts the union of East and West. Theophanu’s presence is not passive; she carries legitimacy. The Ottonians visually assert that they have inherited Byzantine authority.

Style:Stylistically, this ivory reflects Ottonian luxury production. Ivory itself is a precious material, associated with imperial and liturgical contexts. Its use signals wealth, sacred prestige, and exclusivity. The composition is vertically structured, with Christ above and the rulers below, reinforcing theological hierarchy. The proportional scaling establishes Christ’s supremacy while visually connecting him to the rulers through gesture. The act of crowning creates a visual line of transmission of divine power flowing downward. This reflects the same visual strategies seen in Ottonian manuscripts where Christ appears in a mandorla, enthroned, or blessing the emperor. The style therefore participates in the broader Ottonian Christological program that merges imperial and sacred imagery. Finally, the object likely functioned as part of a manuscript cover, meaning it framed sacred text. By placing imperial imagery on a Gospel book, the Ottonians embed kingship within Scripture itself. This connects back to the idea that the object is not isolated, it operates within liturgy, ritual, and display. Like relics or reliquaries discussed in lecture, it materializes authority. The style, material, and iconography work together to present imperial power as divinely mediated and historically continuous.

How does this object help us to define Medieval Art? This object helps define medieval art as a visual system grounded in divine lineage. Rather than legitimizing rulers solely through bloodline or dynastic continuity, the ivory situates Otto II and Theophanu within a sacred genealogy that extends directly from Christ. By portraying Christ as sovereign king (Christus Rex) and showing imperial authority flowing from Him, the image collapses distinctions between sacred and political power. Medieval art, as this object reveals, does not merely represent authority, it participates in constituting it. Through hierarchical composition and coronation imagery, the work supports earthly rule within a cosmic order, transforming political power into something divinely continuous and theologically sanctioned.