Large-scale sculpture is an important development in Ottonian art.

Stone sculpture continues to be rare, but wooden crucifixes such as the over-life-size Gero Crucifix and wooden reliquaries covered with gold leaf begin a return to sculpture in the round.

The more expressionistic Ottonian style is exemplified by the Cologne Cathedral’s Gero Crucifix executed between 970 and 976.

Today the oldest large cross north of the Alps, it shows an evolving technical virtuosity that conveys spiritual intensity, emotionalism, and naturalism.