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| Emperor Henry IV at Canossa |
Maker:Ubaldo Gandolfi (Italian, San Matteo della Decima 1728–1781 Ravenna)
Date:ca. 1770–75
Culture:Italian, Bologna
Medium:Terracotta
Dimensions:Overall (confirmed): H. 23 7/8 x W. 9 1/4 x D. 7 1/8 in. (60.6 x 23.5 x 18.1 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:Purchase, Assunta Sommella Peluso, Ada Peluso, and Romano I. Peluso Gift, in memory of Ignazio Peluso, 2006
Accession Number:2006.499
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 552
Pope Saint Gregory VII excommunicated Emperor Henry IV for his interference in the appointment of clergy. In winter 1077 Henry followed the pope to Canossa and waited barefoot in the snow outside the casle for three days until he received a pardon. The scene, rarely shown in the eighteenth century, perhaps found special resonance in Bologna, the leading city of the Papal States. Gandolfi, a painter who was also an expressive sculptor, conceived an original and picturesque solution, giving the emperor shelter in a blasted tree trunk, his crown at his feet.
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