# Exterior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, German]() - Date: 1201-1250 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The Bamberg Cathedral is a late Romanesque building with four imposing towers. It was founded in 1002 by the Emperor Henry II, finished in 1012. It was later partially destroyed by fire in 1081. The new cathedral, built by St. Otto of Bamberg, was consecrated in 1111, and in the 13th century received its present late-Romanesque form. The east apse, nave pediment and slim eastern towers are built up over a high plinth. Semi-circular in its lower area and polygonal above, the richly articulated apse has high windows on each side of the polygon. The nave, whose proportioning is based on the crossing square module, is vaulted with six or four part ribbing. The heavy uniform areas of wall combine with the vaults to form a space which conveys considerable power and might. The interior thus has an austere, serious character compared to the exterior which projects joyfully upwards. Of its many works of art may be mentioned the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/r/riemensc/6tomb.html'\)" href="/html/r/riemensc/6tomb.html">marble tomb of the founder</a> Emperor Henry II and his wife, the Empress Cunigunde, considered the work of the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, and carved between 1499 and 1513, as well as the statue called the <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/zgothic/gothic/2/09g\_1250.html'\)" href="/html/zgothic/gothic/2/09g\_1250.html">Bamberg Rider,</a> which most likely dates to the period from 1230 to 1235. The photo shows the eastern part of the cathedral. ## Related artworks - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aerial view]() - [Baumburg Tower]() - [East view \(detail\)]() - [Exterior view \(detail\)]() - [Exterior view from the east]() - [Exterior view from the east]() - [Exterior view from the north-east]() - [Exterior view from the north-east]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()