The vision of the Holy Cross shows Saint Norbert’s successor the site for the church
- Author, school, workshop
- Norbertine monastic sculptor (?)
- Style
- Late Mannerism
- Date
- 1662–1665
- Material and technique
- Oak wood; shallow relief
- Size
- Height 145 x width 85 cm
- Location
- The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Wroclaw, Poland
- Description
- It is a representation of the vision of the Holy Cross, which Saint Norbert's successor Hugo von Fosse, later abbot of Prémontré, indicated the site for the construction of the first Premonstratensian church.
In the foreground, four men are arranged in a semi-circle. The two in the centre, shown in profile, are kneeling facing each other; bearded, in Norbertine habits with reeds at their waists. The monk on the left has a hat hanging down his back and on the right two shells attached to a mozetta. Two lay men stand a little further to the side; in pilgrim's garb, they have anklets in their hands. The one on the right, wearing a short kaftan and cloak with a shell on his chest, points with his right hand to the cross topped with a fan of rays in the centre of the representation.
On the hills in the foreground: on the left, a pair of travellers with their backs turned, and at the edge a tree and near its crown on a cloud sits St Norbert with an open prayer book; on the right, the chapel at Prémontré.
On the hill behind the chapel, two more pilgrims in secular dress and with costumes.
Relief based on Th.Galle's engraving no.18 from the 'Vita S. Norberti' a book annotated and published by Ch. van der Sterre in Antwerp in 1622.
