art - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2016 - 170 Euro Cent

The Melk Cross is considered the most precious treasure of the Lower Austrian monastery Melk: It contains a piece of wood, which is said to come from the Cross of Christ, and is thus a valuable relic of the Roman Catholic Church. Austrian Post is now presenting the valuable Melker Cross on a particularly attractive special stamp in the series "Sacred art in Austria".   The particles, so called a sliver of the cross of Christ, was donated around 1040 by margrave Adalbert the Babenbergern, who resided in the castle Melk. The Melk Cross experienced a very eventful history: in 1169 it was stolen by a priest and finally reappeared in the Vienna Schottenkloster. Legend has it that the cross in a subsequent divine judgment - it was not clear to whom it belonged - moved on its own as the abbot of Melk Abbey. A boat with the cross in it floated as if by magic from Vienna on the Danube upstream, and so it was finally brought back to Melk. In 1362 Duke Rudolf IV commissioned today's precious version for the cross. While this was still in progress, the precious wood splinter was stolen once more - but the thief was caught and the relic returned to the pen. The new version was artfully made by gilded silver from Viennese goldsmiths and richly decorated with gemstones, cameos, enamel and pearls. At the ends of the cross, the four evangelists are pictured on the back, in the middle of which is the crucified Jesus. To make the cross splinter visible, the back of the cross frame can be opened - the settings of the gems are designed as screws.