Golden table, Medieval relief sculpture at Bode Museum and Minden Cathedral, Germany

The Golden Table is a carved oak winged retable of the 15th century made for Minden Cathedral, resting on a Romanesque predella of 1220. Its central roundel shows the Coronation of Mary ringed by music-making angels, with the twelve apostles under Gothic canopies and fourteen figures in medallions below. With wings open it is about 5.5 metres wide; the wings are now fixed and much paint and gilding is lost.

The retable was carved in the 15th century for Minden Cathedral and rests on a Romanesque predella dated 1220. A smaller version was made in the late 19th century for St. Johannis Baptist in Herford, and since 2002 a reconstruction has stood in the choir of Minden Cathedral. The original is now in the Bode-Museum in Berlin.

The name Goldene Tafel refers to the gilding that once covered most of the retable and has largely been lost. The central roundel shows the Coronation of Mary, ringed by a wreath of music-making angels, with the twelve apostles beneath Gothic canopies. Only one apostle can be identified with certainty: the beardless figure fourth from the left holds a chalice with a snake emerging from it, the attribute of John the Evangelist.

You can view this sculpture at the Bode Museum in Berlin-Mitte, displayed alongside other medieval artworks from the same period. Its 250-centimeter height means you should allow time to observe the carved details at different levels of the work.

Only one of the twelve apostle figures can be identified with certainty: the beardless figure fourth from the left holds a chalice with a snake emerging from it, the attribute of the Evangelist John. A key in the hand of the tenth figure is not original, so it cannot prove that figure is Peter.