Archaeological excavations unearthed an extremely rare find under the floor of the Romanesque Basilica of St. Peter in Straubing. This is a mural fragment from the 11th or 12th century, which probably represents the head of Christ, but it could also be a saint. “The special find situation, which may indicate a ‘burial’ of a removed holy image, is touching and reflects a deep religiosity,” said Mathias Pfeil, General Curator of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, on Thursday at the presentation of the find.
As early as 1974, archaeologists discovered pieces of plaster with paint attached about half a meter below the early Romanesque floor covering in the central nave of St. Peter’s. The fragments were then taken to the workshops of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Munich, where they were meticulously processed by a team of restorers. It was painstaking puzzle work, but after assembling 92 pieces, a life-size male head with a halo emerged.
It is unclear whether the remains of wall plaster were once buried under the church floor as a sacred image, or whether they only served as filling material. Just in time for Easter, the “Christ” of St. Peter is now being presented to the public in Straubing’s Gäubodenmuseum.
According to the State Office, the fact that the shards were found in the floor allows the thesis that the portrait was once buried there on purpose. From the late Middle Ages to the Baroque period, it was quite common to “dispose of” liturgically important works of art in this way, as a kind of deponia pia, as “holy garbage”. Another thesis says that the plaster removed during the conversion around 1180 was simply used to fill the floor.