286 General Discussion of the Crosses 



Either in 687, when he died, or in 698, when his body was exhumed, 

 the body of St. Cuthbert was wrapped, over his other robes, in a Hnen 

 sheet aknost nine cubits in length and three and a half in breadth, 

 having an embroidered border of an inch in width, with a design in 

 raised figures. The design was of ' birds and beasts, so arranged 

 that invariably between every two pairs of birds and beasts there 

 was interwoven the representation of a branching tree, which distin- 

 guished and divided the figures. This representation of the tree, 

 so tastefully depicted, appeared to be putting forth its leaves, although 

 small, on both sides ; under which, upon the adjacent compartment, 

 the interwoven figures of animals again appeared, and this ornamental 

 border of trees and animals was equally visible upon the extreme 

 parts of the sheet. This sheet was removed from his holy body 

 at the time of his translation [1104], and . . . was long preserved entire 

 in the church.' ^ 



To the time of Wilfrith (d. 709) may be assigned a fragment with 

 vine-foliage from Hexham, executed in low relief,^ with a somewhat 

 similar fragment at Jarrow.^ 



quando invece Massimiano era stato arcivescovo di quella citta quattro secoli 

 e mezzo prima. E la notizia ci viene pel mezzo della persona stessa che con- 

 dusse a Ravenna il prezioso mobile : da Giovanni Diacono che la scrisse nella 

 cronaca veneziana, edita gia ben tre volte e che nessuno piii contesta a lui. 

 Le sue parole tradotte in chiaro italiano, dicono : "In quel tempo (dicembre 

 del 1001) I'imperatore Ottone III per mezzo di Giovanni Diacono mando 

 al Doge Pietro II Orseolo, due ornamenti imperiali d'oro fatti con mirabile 

 lavoro, uno da Pavia e I'altro da Ravenna. Ad Ottone, per ricompensa, 

 il Doge mando a Ravenna una cattedra maestrevolmente scolpita in 

 tavole d'avorio, che Ottone, accettata con vivo desiderio, lascio in queUa 

 citta perche vi fosse conservata." . . . E certo che nel suo complesso la 

 cattedra appare opera orientale, provenga essa da Bisanzio, da Alessandria 

 o da Antiochia.' See also Goetz, Ravenna, p. 89. Carotti, History of Art 

 2^. 110, caUs it ' an Alexandrian work of the sixth century,' and adds : ' It 

 was first taken from Alexandria to Grado, and then in 1001 to Ravenna, 

 sent as a gift from Doge Pietro Orseolo II. to the Emperor Otto, but Otto 

 left it there to ensure its preservation.' Venturi thinks it to have been 

 named after Bishop Maximian of Constantinople (1. 468). 



^ Reginald of Durham, Libellus, chap. 42 (quoted in Raine, St. Cuthbert, 

 App., p. 5), as translated by Raine, pp. 90-91 ; I have merely changed certain 

 present tenses to past. Reginald wrote after 1173. 



2 Rivoira, Lomb. Arch. 2. 143 (illustration on p. 142) ; cf. GreenweU, 

 Catalogue, pp. 59 ff. 



3 Rivoira 2. 139. 



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