Ways to discover the collection

The age of the Romanesque churches in Cologne

Taken together, the twelve Romanesque churches, built around 1050-1250, still form a unique ensemble today. The Church of St. Cecilia, in which the Museum Schnütgen has been located since 1956, is one of these prominent signs of medieval Cologne. However, the sacred building’s large, unadorned space is the result of reconstruction measures carried out after 1945. Remnants of murals depicting a narrative cycle of the church’s patron saint and scenes from the life of Jesus hint at the colourful ornamentation that once adorned the church during the Middle Ages. Architectural sculpture also once accentuated the massive walls of the Romanesque buildings. Capitals with interlaced arabesques and imaginative mixed-form animals as well as portal reliefs were used to ornament churches and monastic complexes. Two rare examples of such reliefs have survived from Cologne, the tympana of St. Cecilia and of St. Pantaleon. The depiction of the figures, in media ranging from increasingly large-scale stone and wooden sculptures to book illumination and filigree ivory carvings, is characterised by a symmetrical composition and design. The folds of their robes appear schematised and linear in form, but with echoes reminiscent of ancient Roman sculpture. Their gaze seems rigid, and this is emphasised by their restrained gestures.