medieval church trasuries

7/27/2019 Medieval Church Trasuries

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MEDIEVALHURC

TREASURIE

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8

PRINCIPAL LITURGICAL OBJECTS

AMONGTHE

MOST important tems in the churchtreasuries that survive today or that are known

through deeds of gift or intermittent inventories

are vessels that were used for the service of the

church. Chief among them are the cups, or chal-

ices (sometimes with their straws), ewers, and

cruets that contained the eucharistic wine and

the patens, or plates, and small boxes, pyxides,that held the sanctified bread. Without these

vessels the Communion of the clergy and con-

gregationcould not takeplace. They were madein many different materials, depending on thewealth of the church or of its patrons. Terra-

cotta, glass, and base metals were used, but ex-

amples generally have not survived because oftheir fragility. More costly and durable medialike silver, gold, or valuable hardstone such as

chalcedonyandsardonyxwerepreferredout of adesire to do honor to Godby serving the conse-cratedwine and bread, the Blood and Body of

i. Formed in the late Romanmanner from a simple innerbowl overlaid with elaborate

figural openwork, this magnifi-cent chalice was believed tohave been made for a church inAntioch until that attributionwas recently proven incorrect.The chalice, which was made

for a church elsewhere in

Syria, is one of the most elab-

orately worked Christian litur-

gical vessels that survives. Itsrich imagery depicts Christas

earthly teacher and resurrectedsavior accompaniedby his

apostles. Byzantine, late

5th-early 6th century. Silver,

partly gilt,h.

71/2 nches,diam.

6 inches. The Cloisters Collec-

tion, 1950 (50.4)



9

2. Thisset of chalice,paten,and straw, made for Saint

Trudpert'smonastery near

Freiburg m Breisgau, Ger-

many, portrays Christ En-throned,who joins his apostlesin a lively discussionwithinthe arcadesof the chalice's cup.Below, Old Testamentsceneson the foot prefigurethe eventsin Christ's life depictedon the

knop. Thepaten's imagery jux-taposes the sacrificial offeringsof Abel and Melchizedekwiththose of Christ,who holds the

sacraments, and Saint Trud-

pert, who brandisheshis palmof martyrdom. Inscriptionsonthe set underscorethe theme ofsalvation through Christand

the Eucharist.German(Freiburg m Breisgau), ca.

1235. Workshopof Master

Johannes.From the monasteryof Saint Trudpertnear Freiburgim Breisgau.Silver, partly gilt,niello, gems; h. chalice 8

inches, diam. paten 83/4inches,1. straw 8V2nches. TheCloistersCollection,1947(47.101.26-29)

Christ, in chalices or on plates of the purestmaterials. Even before the peace of the churchunder Constantine (A.D. 313), seemingly small

Christian communities like that at Cirta had

gold and silver chalices, patens, ewers, and

spoons for the Eucharist. Documents such as

The Book of the Popes clearly reveal first the

emperor'sand then the bishops' responsibility n

furnishingand renewing liturgicalobjects,par-

ticularly the principalvessels employed in theEucharist.Theseobjects-along with reliquariesand furnishings (church furniture, like altarsor chancel screens)-formed the "treasure" ofthe early churches.

The ChristianEucharistderivedfrom the gos-

pel accounts of the Last Supper, the Passovermeal that Christshared with his disciplesbefore

his betrayaland Passion. Accordingto the Gos-

pel of Saint Matthew (26:26-28): "Christ took

bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to his

disciples saying: Take ye and eat. This is my

body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks,andgaveit to his disciples saying: Drinkye all of

this. For this is my blood of the new testament,which is shed for you and for many unto remis-

sion of sins." As recounted in the Acts of the

Apostles, this supperbecamethe model for the

gathering of the faithful at a communal meal

after Christ's death and Resurrection.

By the secondcentury a morning service had

developed that was separate from the eveningmeal, and in the course of time houses were

converted nto churchesfor this eucharisticser-

vice and for the baptismof new members. Howsoon a group of vessels was set aside solely for

the Communion of the faithful cannot be deter-

mined, but by the thirdcentury the altarservicefor the celebration of the Communion at the

churchhouse at Cirta seems to have been exten-sive. Most importantwere the chaliceandpatenfor the servingof the wine andthe bread.Manyexamplesof both are listed in Constantine'sgiftsto the Lateran basilica and Old Saint Peter's inRome. To receive the offerings of bread andwine that the faithful brought to the churchthere were also large ewers and plates, perhapset out on offertorytables. Smallerjugsor cruetswere used to mix water with the wine, and

boxes, either circularor square,were also madefor the storageof the consecratedbreadthat hadnot been consumed during the service.

No examples of these early vessels from be-fore the sixth century have survived. At thattime wars and invasions of nomadic tribes intothe territoryof the old Roman Empire,stretch-

ing from Englandto the Near East, forced the

abandonmentof churchesand in some cases theburial of their treasures. Among the most im-



10

portant of these hoards are troves of liturgicalvessels found in Syria at the beginning of this

century. The objects from this treasure are di-vided among the Louvre and several American

museums, including the Metropolitan. One of

their most impressive pieces is the so-called

Antioch Chalice (fig. i), whose elaborate work-

manship is a product of late Roman taste. An

openwork cage of silver gilt worked with im-

agery of Christ and his apostles seated within a

grapevine scroll encases a simple silver cup.Christ is depicted both as teacher and risen Lord

in the company of his immediate followers. This

eucharistic imagery of salvation is characteristic

of chalice decoration throughout church history.

Its didactic message, drawn from the gospel,

expresses the meaning of Christ's Incarnation

and offers to his followers the possibility of

redemption through the Communion.

The elaborate design and execution of the

Antioch Chalice suggest that it was made as the

principal vessel of a set of chalices of simpler

design like those from other finds in Syria. In

the list of the emperor Constantine's gifts to the

Lateran basilica a distinction is made between

the jeweled coral chalice weighing twenty Ro-

man pounds and the seven gold and twenty

silver ones that weighed ten and fifteen poundsrespectively. The coralchalice, like the Antioch

Chalice,may have served as the principalvessel

among smaller chalices used for distribution ofwine to the faithful.

The Antioch Chalice displays the basic formused for Christianchalicesthroughout history.Itscup s raisedon a stem that is decoratedwith a

molding, called a knop, andset on a sturdy foot.But within this standard,medieval chalices dis-

play many variations. A thirteenth-centurychalice with its paten and straw (fig. 2) from the

abbey of Saint Trudpert near Freiburg im

Breisgau, Germany, and now in The Cloisters

Collection, shares with the Antioch Chalice a

cage-cup design and a sense of horror vacui,evidentin its overalldecorationof Old and NewTestament imagery set in dense rinceaux. Thetwo chalices are also of approximatelythe same

height and diameter. Their designs, however,areextremely different: the largecup and shortfoot of the Antioch Chalice contrast with themuch shallowerbowl and taller stem of the me-dieval work. The Saint Trudpert chalice heldmuch less wine than the Antioch Chalice,prob-ably because from the ninth century on, theCommunion was consideredmore and more sa-

3. Stylized acanthus and awreath design decoratethe

body and neck of the simplyformed ewer (inside right)found with a treasure trove ofChristianand barbarianart inthe vicinity of Vrap,near Du-

razzo, Albania. The inscriptionaround the neck refers to the

holy water the vessel containedwhile monograms on the base

give the name of Zenobius, thedonor. The enameled cruet

(right) and the pair of silverLate Gothic ones (left and in-side left) performedsimilar

functions but are clearly prod-ucts

of differentcultures.

Ewer: Byzantine, 7th-8th cen-

tury. Silver, partly gilt, h. 93/16inches. Gift of J. PierpontMor-

gan, 1917 (17.190.1704).Enam-eled cruet: French(Limoges),13th century. Champleveenamel on copper,h. 61/2

inches. The Cloisters Collec-

tion, 1947 (47.101.39). Silvercruets: German (Liibeck),1518.By Hans Plate. Silver, partlygilt, h. 63/4 nches. The Friedsam

Collection,Bequest of Michael

Friedsam,1931(32.100.218,219)



11

4. Miraclescenes, which sym-bolizedsalvation throughChrist,were commonly por-trayed on ivory pyxides. Inaddition to storing the eu-charisticbread,this box show-

ing the Multiplicationof theLoavesand Fishes may have

served in distributingthe breadto the faithful at the close ofthe service, as is recorded nsome Early Christiantexts.

Byzantine, 6th century. Fromthe churchof San Pedrode laRua at Estella, Spain. Ivorywith copper-giltmounts, wood;diam.4/2 inches. Gift ofJ. Pierpont Morgan, 1917(17.190.34)

cred,and fewer and fewer Christianspartookofthe bread and wine except on major feast dayslike Christmasand, especially, Easter.They al-

lowed the priest to take Communion on theirbehalf. The chalice';patenthereforeis alsoquitesmall and was made to fit on topof the chalice,aswas often the custom in the medieval church.

Thethird,much smaller mplementmadeaspartof the Saint Trudpertset was the straw, calleda

fistula, with which the wine was drunkfrom thechalice. Sometimes pairsof strawssurvive. Thestraw was used to prevent any possibility thateven a dropof the wine, the Bloodof Christ,be

accidentallyspilled.Theincreasing sanctityof the Eucharist n the

minds of the priests and of the faithful, andthe

consequent reluctance of the congregation totakeCommunion, also prompteda dramaticde-creasein the size of other eucharistic vessels-for example, the ewer and its successor, thecruet.

Compare,for

example,a seventh- to

eighth-century silver-gilt ewer foundin Albania

(fig. 3, inside right) with the richly decoratedFrench hirteenth-centurycruetfrom the enamel

workshopsof Limoges (fig. 3, right). The formerhas a capacityof about one quart, the latter ofabout one-half cup. Even smaller is a very fine

pairof silver cruets (fig. 3, left, inside left) madein Liibeck,Germany,in 1518and labeledon theirlids "water"and "wine."

Despite the changes in the size of these ves-

sels, their functionmandateda certainsimilarityof form and decoration. The shape of the con-tainerfor the Host, however, variedwidely. Themost common form was the circularpyxis usedto store the sanctified bread throughout the

Early and the Late Middle Ages. The Early

ChristianandByzantinecollection at the Metro-politanMuseum contains a number of examples.Among the finest is an ivory box (fig. 4) that isdecoratedwith a relief of Christ performingtheMiracle of the Multiplicationof the Loaves and

Fishes, imagery most appropriateto the box'sfunction. The circularshape was supplementedby a variety of other pyxis forms. Especiallycaptivating is a dove (fig. 5), which was sus-

pendedabove the altar, evoking the presenceofthe Holy Ghost. In the LateMiddleAges a newform called a monstrance was introduced, in

responseto an increase in devotion to the conse-cratedHost that led in turn to a

changein the

liturgy in which the priest elevated the Host forthe congregationto see and adore. Figure6 pre-sents a very fine late fifteenth- or early six-

teenth-centuryGerman or Flemishmonstrance.Its FlamboyantGothic upper structure, multi-storied andpinnacled, s filledwith imagesof the

Baptismand Crucifixionof Christ, the Virgin,andsaints, abovea centraloculus, within whichan angel holds aloft a crescent moon that sup-portedthe sanctifiedwafer. This mise-en-scenerestsuponamuchsimpler,tallbaseby whichthe

priest held the monstrance high, either at thecelebrationof the Eucharistor in processiondur-

ing the Feastof CorpusChristi.Whereas the function of the pyxides and chal-

ices that we have discussedis clear,that of other

liturgical objects such as the tabernacle in theMedieval Treasury Room (fig. 8) is more diffi-cult to unriddle. It is shapedlike a gabledhouseand is richly decorated on the exteriorwith im-

ages of the Virgin and Christ and on the insidewith cycles of scenes representingthe Crucifix-ion and the events following Christ's Resurrec-

tion, such as the visit of the Virgin and MaryMagdaleneto the empty tomb or ChristpullingAdam from Hades. Only one similar tabernacle

is known from the medieval period. It comesfrom the Cathedral of Chartres and is alsoillustrated with scenes from the Passion andResurrection of Christ. These tabernacles were

probablykepton the altar,where they may haveserved as receptacles for the chalice and pyxiswhen the vessels were not in use during theservice.Such animportantobjectmay have beenused for a more dramatic purpose during the

major feasts of Easter Week; it has been sug-gested that the sacrifice of Christ on the crosswas symbolized by placing the sanctified bread



12

coveredwith a "shroud" inside this tabernacle.

On Easter Day, the shrine would have been

opened-all partsof this tabernacleswing out to

form a two-dimensional tableau-to celebrate

Christ'sResurrection.This and similar iturgicalreenactments of events from the Gospels were

anintegralpartof the religiouslife of a church n

the MiddleAges.Changes n the formatof the Christianservice

throughout the medieval period, as well as

changes in artistic taste, affected the design of

even the most conservativeof liturgicalvessels.

Those that were considered not suited to the

needs of a given period might be melted downto

providethe material for more useful or up-to-

date works. If the vessel were of particular m-

portance,because of the characterof its maker ordonor orbecause t belongedto a famouschurch,it would be kept in the church's treasury and

brought out for use on feast days and other

importantoccasions.Although the abbeychurchof Saint-Denis suffered great deprivations

throughout its history, a few of the vessels thatSuger had made, like his chalice, ewer, and vase,survived not only because of the beauty of their

workmanship but also because of the character

of the famous abbot.

Medieval liturgical vessels were also pre-served as symbols of military might and con-

quest. Many chalices and reliquaries that were

5. Quite a few liturgicalobjectsin the shape of doves survive

from the Early Middle Ages.Most are thought to have beencontainersfor the Host, like

this fine example, whose mod-ern mount and chains indicatehow it was suspendedover analtar. Its brightly colored

champleve enamel is charac-teristic of many objectsmadein the area of Limoges, insouth centralFrance,whichwas famous for its prolificenamel and metalworkingateliers. French(Limoges),early 13th century. Enamel on

copper,partly gilt, h. 75/8inches. Gift of J. PierpontMorgan, 1917(17.190.334)

6. Gothiccraftsmen oftenadoptedthe richly decorated

Flamboyant style of cathedral

buildings to liturgical objectslike this monstrance, which

displayed the Host in the cen-tral oculus. Images of the Bap-tism and Crucifixion of Christ,the Virginin Glory, and saints

fill the architecture. German orFlemish, late Isth-early 16th

century. Silver gilt, h. 243/8inches. The FriedsamCollec-

tion, Bequest of Michael

Friedsam, 1931 (32.100.226)

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13

looted from the palaces and churches of

Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade

(1204-61) and the Latin occupationof the citywere placed in the treasury of San Marco in

Venice as emblems of victory rather than beingmelted down like so much of the other bootyfrom that imperial city. Although many pieces

have been lost from the San Marcotreasuryoverthe centuries, enough remain to give us a sense

of the glories of the liturgical furnishings of the

Byzantinechurchesandimperialchapels n Con-

stantinopleduring the Middle Ages.The eucharistic service in which the chalice,

paten, ewer, and pyxis were used developedfrom the accounts of Christ's Last Supper thatwere recorded n the four Gospels. They containthe unique accounts of Christ'sbirth, teaching,miracles, death, and Resurrectionand thus con-

stitute the most important of the Christian

texts-the "writings of the law," to adopt the

words of themagistrate

who confiscated the

books from the church house at Cirta. This

dependence of religion on a text had ancient

precedents, of course, particularly in Judaism.So importantwas the gospelbook, that it was the

only object allowed on the altar in the EarlyChristian church. The mosaics of the fifth-

centurydome of the Baptisteryof the Orthodoxin Ravenna, for example, show gospel books

open on altars as emblems of the New Law.

During mass, the gospel book was taken from

the altarandcarried n solemn processionto the

pulpit by the deacon who was to read from it.

Subdeaconsswinging

censersandacolytes hold-

ing torches or candles accompanied the holybook to and from the altar during the EarlyMiddle Ages.

So important a manuscriptdemandeda pre-cious binding. Severalsilver relief plaques(figs.9, io) with images of the apostles were found

with the so-called Antioch Treasure and mayhave served this purpose. Those showing the

figures of Peter and Paul, Christ's Apostles to

the Jews and the Gentiles, depict the apostlesstanding under richly decorated ceremonial

archeswith peacocks,symbolsof resurrection, n

their spandrels and a eucharistic vine scroll

around the border. The symbols of the fourevangelists were also popular as book decora-

tion; anexample s the Museum's ninth-centuryGermanor North Italian ivory plaque (fig. 1t),where the Apocalypticbeasts fill the quadrantsformedby across,atwhose center is the Lambof

God. In two book covers (figs. 12, 13) that come

from the Cathedralof Jaca n Spain, two elev-

enth-century ivories depicting the Crucifixionone Spanish and the other Byzantine, are set

within jeweled and filigree mounts.



7. A small but nonetheless

imposing tripartite tabernacle,decoratedwith the

Virginand

Childflanked by two kneelingmale saints, is depicted n this

fourteenth-century manuscriptillumination. Set at the backofthe altar, the tabernacle isshown open with the chaliceand paten placed in front of it.A priest holds the Host in hishands at the moment in theEucharistwhen the bread isbelievedto change into the

Body of Christ. Italian (Flor-ence), third quarterof the isth

century. Temperaand gold leafon parchment, 163/8x 191/16

inches. Gift of Louis L.Lorillard,1896 (96.32.8)

8. Thisvery large early thir-

teenth-century tabernacle wasmade in

Limoges.Its

principalelements-the doors and cen-tral interior panel-are deco-rated with separately cast

figures showing Christ and the

Virginin Majesty, Christ's De-

position from the cross, andscenes that occurredafter theLord'sResurrection. All other

surfaces are covered with flatenameled images of additional

post-Resurrectionscenes. Al-

though the colors have losttheir original vibrancy (thetabernacle was found buried at

Plumejeau in Chevres near Co-

gnac, France),they are vividenough to allow the modernviewer to appreciatehow im-

pressive this tabernaclemusthave been when seen by the

congregationseated in thenave of the unknown church

for which it was made. French

(Limoges),first half of the 13th

century. Enamel on copper,partly gilt, w. (when open)33 inches. Gift of J. PierpontMorgan, 1917 (17190.735)



1



16

9, 1o. Thesetwo silver reliefplaqueswith images of Saint

Paul, apparentlyreadingfroman open book(fig. 9), andSaint Peterholding a cross-

staff (fig. o1) were found withthe chalice(fig. i) and twoother covers (one of which

[47.100.36]-isin the Metropoli-tan's collections)that depictpairs of unidentifiedsaints.Theplaques are thought tohave servedas coversforsacredbooks-in the case of

Peter and Paul, perhaps foreditions of their epistles. Thevine scrollsgrowing from thecenterof the lower border endat the top in a cross. Birds

perchon branches,from which

hang birdcages,which perhapssymbolize the soul constrained

by unbelief. Byzantine, 6th

century. Silver, originallypartly gilt; h. o05/8 nches

(fig. 9), 103/4 inches (fig. 1o).Fletcher Fund, 1950 (50.5.1,2)

ii (oppositepage). Half-figuresof the four beasts of the Apoc-alypse-which constantly giveglory, honor, and thanks to

God, accordingto the Book ofRevelation

(4:6-9)-are

framed by the arms of a crosson this beautifully carvedbookcover. As representativesof the

four evangelists, they surroundthe Lambof God at the center

of the cross, perhaps in imita-tion of Saint John's vision, inwhich the beasts are describedas being"in the midst of. . . and

round about the throne." Ger-man or North Italian, probablygth century. Ivory, h. 914

inches. Gift of J. PierpontMorgan, 1917 (17.190.38)



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20

SECONDARY LITURGICALOBJECTS

MANY LITURGICAL IMPLEMENTS other than the

primaryeucharisticvessels were used in the cel-

ebrationof the Mass. They, too, were storedin

the sacristy, when in current use, or in the

church'streasury.A flabellum(fig. 14), or liturgicalfan, made in

the Rhineland around 1200 and now at The

Cloisters,is a particularly ine Germanexampleof an objectthat first serveda practical unction,that of keepingflies from the Eucharist.All that

remains of the fan is the head, which originallywas set in along shaftby means of the elongated

triangular langeat its base. The surface s richly

ornamentedwith concentricbands of silver-gilt,jeweled, and enameled friezes decorated with

stylized acanthus-leaf, scroll, and palmette pat-terns. A centralboss opens to reveal a compart-ment for a now-lost relic. The fan was heldby asubdeaconwho stood behind the altar while thebread and the wine were being prepared fordistribution at the Eucharist. Whether he actu-

ally waved it cannot be established. Consideringthis reliquary-fan's fragility, one assumes thatit probably served as a replacement for the

peacock-feather ans that were originally used.Peacock-feather ans were still recordednchurch

14. Thisflabellum, or liturgicalfan, comes from the collections

of the State Hermitage Mu-seum, Leningrad,where its

companion piece still remains.

Byzantine to late medieval il-lustrations depictingthe Com-munion of the apostles oftenshow flabella being used in

pairs or even in larger mul-

tiples. German (Rhineland,perhaps Cologne), late 12th

century. Gilt bronze, champ-leve enamel, silver, glass gems,diam. 1/2 inches. The CloistersCollection, 1947 (47.101.32)



21

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15. The well-worn censer (left),incense boat (center),andcenser lid (right) bearwitnessto the regular use of incense inthe medieval Christianservice.Theform of the censer lidimitates the architectureof a

churchwithin city walls. Theincensewould have been placedin its missing lower bowl, andthe smoke would have escapedthrough the church'swindows.Censer:French,13th century.Champleveenamel on copper,partly gilt, h. 7'/2 inches. TheCloistersCollection,195o(5o.7.3a,b). Incense boat:

French,13th century. Champ-leve enamel on copper, partlygilt, I. 4 inches. Gift of]. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

(17.190.126). Censer lid:

Mosan, mid-12thcentury.

Bronzegilt, h. 4V/8nches. TheCloistersCollection,1979(1979.285)

inventories in the Late MiddleAges; they were

employed during the pontificalmasses at Saint

Peter's, for example.The burning of incense during religious rites

goes back at least to the Babyloniancivilization.Its Christianuse surely evolved from that of the

Romans,who employedit in the cult of the deadand burned it on the altars of gods such as Bac-chus. It was an integral part of Jewishreligiouslife as well. The High Priest, for example, of-fered ncense to God within the temple's Holy ofHolies. The earliest references to it in the Chris-tianrite, usually in connectionwith burial of the

dead, occur about the fourth century. In bothEastern and Western rites, however, the use ofincenserapidly expanded o suit many occasions

duringthe service. Forexample, deaconscarry-ing censers and acolytes carrying torches often

precededthe bishop in his procession from the

church'sentranceto its altarandat his exit at theend of the service. Furthermore,when the dea-con went from the altar to the pulpit to read the

gospel, he was accompaniedby both the torchbearersandthe censing subdeacons.In the laterMiddle Ages, the altar was also censed duringthe service. Incense was usedin other contextsaswell. Pope Sergius (687-701), for example, hadcensers placed before three golden images ofSaint Peter in Old Saint Peter's.

Of the Byzantine censers that have beenfound on the sites of a number of churches n the

Mediterraneanworld, a few are of silver but the

majority are of less expensive materials likebronze or copper.The censers in the collectionsat The Metropolitan Museum of Art and TheCloistersdate from the Romanesqueand Gothic

periods. A colorful enamel censer (fig. 15, left)madein the prolificworkshopsof Limogesin thethirteenth century displays a standardmedieval

design of a bowl raisedon a splayed foot toppedby a perforated id, through which the aromaticsmoke escaped. The incense was often kept in a

boat-shaped vessel that could be opened fromone side like the contemporary vessel with

dragon-headedhandles (fig. 15, center).Whereas this censer and the incense boat are

decoratedwith traditional rinceau and animal

designs, the lid of another censer that is at TheCloisters (fig. 15, right) may imaginatively re-create in miniature the image of the Heavenly

Jerusalem.The lower four arches might repre-sent the tympana of the city's gates, behindwhich rises a centrally planned cross-shapedchurch. Old Testament imagery within thearches prefigures the sacrifice of Christ on thecross for the salvation of man and suggests theeucharisticbread and wine on the altar, whichwere censed before Communion. The censer'sarchitecturaldecoration reflectsa traditional de-

sign, which again can be seen, this time in itsGothic form, in a silver censer in the Metro-

politan's Medieval Treasury (fig. 16) from the



I6. A masterly knowledge ofthe silversmith's art is demon-strated by this beautifullywrought censer made in Ger-

many in the early fifteenthcentury. The complex Gothic

design of superimposedstories

of openworkwindows is com-

plemented by the slenderchains with which the censerwas swung during the serviceat the Cathedralof Basel in

Switzerland, in whose treasuryit is recordedas early as 1477.German (upper Rhineland),early isth century. Silver,h. 32 inches. Gift of I. PierpontMorgan, 1917(17.I90.360)

I7. Scenes from the Passionand Resurrectionof Christ are

depictedabove those of his

Infancy on this early ivoryholy-water bucket,or situla.

This view shows part of twoadjacent registers of scenes. Onthe left, a soldier raises a whipwith which to scourge Christ.On the right is the Crucifixionwith the sun and moon abovethe arms of the cross. Longinuspierces Christ's side with his

spear and Stephaton holds upthe sponge of vinegar forChrist to drink. The Baptism ofChrist is portrayed in the lower

compartments.Copper-giltin-

lays decoratethe situla's raised

ivory borders.German (lowerRhineland), 1oth century. From

the churchof Saints Peter andPaul at Kranenburg.Ivory,bronzegilt, glass inserts; h. 812

inches. Gift of ]. PierpontMorgan, 1917 (17.i90.45)

18. The holy water was drawn

from a situla by means of awhisk or by an aspergillum,like this Late Gothic examplefrom The Cloisters Collection.The water filled the asper-gillum's piercedcircularheadand was sprinkledthrough its

perforationsover the altar and

congregation before Commu-

nion, usually upon the singingof Psalm50, verse 9 ("Thoushalt sprinkle me with hyssopand I shall be cleansed . ..").French,1sth century. Coppergilt, silver, amber, champleveenamel, 1.93/s inches. The

Cloisters Collection,1958

(58.137)



23

Cathedralof Basel in Switzerland. The Gothiccenserpreservesthe original chainsby which itwas swung during the service and the loop thatwas used to raise the lid for replenishing theincense.

Another vessel connected with ritualistic

cleansingand exorcismis the holy-waterbucket,

or situla, and its sprinkler,or aspergillum. Holywaterwas sprinkledoverthe altar andcongrega-

17

tion beforethe celebrationof Communionatthemain mass on Sundays. The practice s recordedas early as the ninth century. The Museum

possesses a very beautiful ivory situla (fig. 17)that was made in the tenth century in the lowerRhine region of Germany. The aspergillum in

figure18 was made much later. The situla was

once in the treasury of the parish church ofSaints Peter and Paul at Kranenburg,Germany.Its unbroken width indicates that the ivory is a

cross section of a large elephant's tusk. Thesitula's walls are divided into two lateral regis-ters filled with panels showing scenes fromChrist's Infancy, Passion, and Resurrection-

fitting subjectsfor a containerof the redemptiveholy water. The carving displays small, vibrant

figures that, in their tense movements, conveythe tragedyof the events they enact. The bucketwas carriedby a bronze handle, and bronze-giltlozengesandtriangular nlays decorate he raised

ivorybands that divide one scene from another.

Originally richly gilded, these mounts carriedinto the Middle Ages the ancient love of thecontrast between the mellow ivory and the

glittering gold.Ivory, a popular material for combs of the

wealthy classes, was also used for liturgicalcombs. Usually double-edged with one row ofwide teeth andone of narrow,these objectswere

employed during the ritual robing of a priestbeforehe celebrated he Mass. A paintingat TheCloisters(fig. 20) shows the investiture of Saint

Augustine as bishopof Hippo, North Africa. Onthe floor in front of the saint, who is beingcrownedwith the miter, are implements used inthe celebration.To the right, an acolyte holds acomb as well as two cruets on a book. A comb inthe Metropolitan's Medieval Treasury Room

(fig. 19) also must have served a liturgicalfunc-tion. It is decoratedat its openworkcenterwiththe images of four stags (one or two of whichlookmore likebunnies than stags) confrontingaTreeof Life, a Christianimage of salvation thatwas particularlypopular n the Romanesqueand

Early Gothic periods. The comb's large size-it is a foot in length-points to its symbolicliturgicalfunction rather than to its secularuse.

Another type of ivory object from the medi-eval period, an oliphant, is also preserved inchurches and in their treasuries. Its liturgicalfunction, however, remains obscure, since its

shape,like that of the comb, is adapted romthatof an objectused in everyday life-in this case,the hunting horn. The Metropolitan Museumhasseveralmagnificentlycarvedexamplesin theMedieval and Islamic departments. One earlyexample (fig. 21), thought to have been made in

the twelfth century in Italy, is carved with theLambof God anddisplayed eagles, andmay well



24

19 20



19. The image on this liturgical A/ i 'Acomb stags flanking the Tree ^,7

v

of Life,which grew in theGardenof Eden-commonlydenoted salvation throughChristin Early Christianandmedieval art. The comb wasusedfor a variety of rituals,

includingthe robingof a priest,:

as shown in the adjacentaint-ring (fig. 20). The Tree of Life

imagery, however, was alsoassociatedwith baptism,andthis comb may have been usedduringthe ritual preparationofa baptismalcandidate.Frenchor Italian, 12th-13th century.Ivory, h. 12 inches. TheCloisters Collection, 1955

(55.29.)

20. A number of medieval

paintings depictsacred eventsinside a church.In this de-tail, showing a scene from t

Saint Augustine's life, the Fa- Ii wther of the Churchreceivesthe

regalia of his bishopricof i.

Hippo.Acolytes hold liturgical:Z -

vessels that are not dissimilarto some in this Bulletin-forexample, the two silver cruets

(fig. 3), the censer(fig. i6), theincense boat (fig. I5), and thecomb (fig. 19). Flemish, ca. 22

1490o. By the Master of Saint

Augustine. Oil on wood, 5414x 59 inches. The Cloisters

Collection,1961 (61.199)

21. The eagles, birds,griffins,

and otherfantastic beasts dis-played on this oliphant haveboth heraldicand religiousconnotations. The eagles, forexample, were often symbolsof rulers. They also suggestedthe age-old theme of resurrec-tion and thus were an appro-priate accompanimentto the

image here of the cross-bearingLambof God in Paradise. Themetal mounts with rings wereusedfor carrying the horn and

for hanging it, perhapsover analtar. Italian, 12th century.

Ivory, 1.17 inches. Gift of

J. PierpontMorgan, 1917(17.190.218)

22. Thissacred boxfor holy gilt, h. 4/8 inches. Gift of Irwin

oils, called an olearium, uses Untermyer, 1947 (47.150.2)architecturalelements in a fan-ciful design of crocketed,tiled 23. Theplaque depictingChrist

roof, dentelatedbase and cor- meeting his discipleson the

nice, and cornercolonnettes. road to Emmaus and then din-Thefour crouchinglions form- ing with them inside the walls

ing the feet of the casketguard of the city may have been partits sacred contents. French, of an olearium. The decorativei5th century. Silver, partly animal and floral motifs in-

cised and originally inlaid with

gold on the frame contrastwith the undulating high-reliefsurfaces. This ivory is one ofthe finest surviving examplesof the inventive art of the

Carolingian period. Carolin-

gian, ca. 860-80. Ivory, I. 9/4inches. The Cloisters Collec-tion, 1970 (1970.324.1)

25



26

have been used in the service as a horn or reli-

quary, or for some ceremonial function.

The act of anointingwas an importantpartof

Christianreligiousritual,and from the medieval

periodon, small vials of holy oils were storedin

containerscalled olearia. Some, like a fifteenth-

century French silver casket (fig. 22), are fitted

inside with three mounts to avoidspillageof the

preciousoils. One was used for baptism, a sec-

ond for confirmation,and a third for extreme

unction. A very beautiful ivory plaque (fig. 23)that is carvedwith scenes of Christon the road o

Emmausanddiningwith his disciplesmay have

served as one side of an olearium. The oils alsohad other functions in the church-for example,at the consecrationof a new bell or an altar. The

oils were preparedand blessed only once a yearon the Thursdayof Holy Week, and thus their

storage for the following twelve months was

carefully regulated.The holy oils were kept in cases that allowed

ready transportation since they were admin-

isterednotonly in the presbyteryand the baptis-

tery of a church but also at sickbeds. Other

liturgicalvessels, like the chalice, paten, cruet,and pyxis, were also carriedto the sick, to sol-

diers on military campaigns, or on missionaryvoyages. The itinerant priests and missionaries

also took with them a consecratedaltar. It could

be a specialpanel of cloth like the antimension

used in the Greek and Eastern churches or a

panel of stone, usually set in a rectangularwooden box and called a portable altar, em-

ployed in the West. Like church altars, theyoften contained relics. Saint Willibrord (658-

739), for example, brought with him to Ger-

many an altarcontaininga fragmentof the True

Cross and of the sudarium, or towel, that was

believedto bear the miraculous mageof Christ'sface (the Veronica). When Saint Cuthbert,

bishop of Lindisfarne (635?-687), was rein-terred at Durham in 999, the portablealtarthat

he had used during his life was placed in histomb. Fourvery fine enamelplaques n the Met-

ropolitan Museum's treasury (fig. 25), probablymade in Cologne in the third quarter of thetwelfth century, may come from a portableal-tar. As they are reconstructedhere, the enamelswould have framed a rectangularslab of stone,

perhapsporphyry,to formthe top of the altar nan arrangement similar to that of a completealtar from the so-called Guelph Treasure (fig.24), now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

As the liturgy of the Christian church de-

velopedduringthe LateMiddleAges, traditionalvessels were sometimes replacedby others thatserved a similar function but accommodated

changes in the liturgy or pious habits of the

clergyandcongregation;the monstrancefor the

Host and the monstrance reliquaryare two ex-

amples (see figs. 6, 61). In addition, some new

liturgical objects were introduced, such as the

pax (meaning"peace").Its use derivedfrom thekiss of peace, which was an important form of

salutationdatingfromthe apostolic age. "Saluteone another with a holy kiss" is the way in

which the apostle Peter closed his First Epistle.The EarlyChristian service includeda prayerof

peace, which in the Eastern rite preceded or

followed the offeringsbut in the West camejustbefore Communion. In the Gothic period, thekiss of peace began to be transmitted from the

priest to his assistants and to the congregationthrough a kind of icon, the pax, decoratedwith

religious imagery. A small fourteenth-centurySouthGerman vory carvedwith the Crucifixion

24. The beautiful portable altarillustratedmay have been com-

missionedfor the collegiatechurch n Brunswick,Lower

Saxony, that was dedicated othe Virginand SaintsJohnthe

Baptist,Peter,and Paul as a giftof the church's ounder, Count-ess Gertrude.Thepatronsaints

arerecorded n the inscription nniello on silver around thepor-phyry panel set into the topsurface of the altar. Figures n

relief of Christ,the Virgin,an-

gels, apostles,andother saintsdecorate he sides. Mostof the

figures standunderbrilliantlyenameledarches,surroundedbythe altar'sheavily jeweledbor-ders.German(Hildesheim),ca.

1045.Gold,cloisonneenamel,

gems, andpearlson an oakcore,1.o01/2nches.The ClevelandMuseum ofArt, Gift of theJohn

HuntingtonArt and

PolytechnicTrust



27

25. Thesefour enameled

plaqueshave been recon-structed to form the top of a

portablealtar, on which theywould have framed a rect-

angular slab of semipreciousstone, probablyporphyry.They depictscenes from the

Life of Christ, concentratingprimarilyon his Infancy, Pas-

sion, and Resurrection, ittingimagery for an altar on whichthe Eucharist,symbolic of theLord'ssacrifice,is celebrated.German(probably Cologne),thirdquarterof the 12th

century. Champleveenamel on

copper,partly gilt; 1.largerplaques6/2 inches, 1. smaller

plaques5/s inches. Gift ofJ. Pierpont Morgan, 1917(17.190.410-13)

26. The small format of this

plaque showing the Crucifixionsuggests that the ivory wasmadefor private devotion be-

fore it was reused in the seven-teenth centuryas a pax. South

German,1360-70. Ivory,silver gilt, h. 33/4 nches. TheCloistersCollection,1970(1970.324.9)



28

wasconverted or use as apaxin the seventeenth

century (fig. 26). Its imagery of the sorrowing

Virgin, Saint John, Stephaton, and Longinuswas well suited to the emotional ceremony of

kissingthe pax just before the liturgicalsacrifice

at the altar.A most importantelement in the mystery of

the Christian service is light. Christ describedhimself as the Light of the World, and the new

churches were illuminated, partly for practicaland partly for mystical reasons, in many dif-

ferent, dramaticways. Without such modern

inventions as the electric light, churches were

built to make good use of naturallight sources.

Old Saint Peter's had large windows openingdown the nave above the roofs of the sideaisles,and at the emperorJustinian'sHagiaSophia,the

huge centraldome was ringedwith windowsand

the navewalls piercedby wide archedopenings.Nonetheless the enormous space enclosed bythe church's walls also needed artificial

light,especiallyat night, to allow for the orderlycon-

duct of the service. The list of Constantine's

donations to the Laterangives an indication of

these light sourcesin the EarlyChristianperiod.Largecandlesticks stood on the floor on eitherside of the altar, and huge crowns of light were

hung from the altar ciborium and from thearchesof the nave arcades.These crowns held as

many as eighty oil lamps, and their silver sur-faces reflectedeven more light. InHagiaSophia,

numerous lamps, whose light was increasedbythe use of reflectors,swung on greatchains sus-

pendedfrom the dome over the nave. The baseof the dome itself was ringed with lamps, and"trees" of lights stood on the choir screen. At

ground evel smaller ampsweresuspended rombrackets on the walls and columns throughoutthe church, and lamps were ranged down the

length of the building.The MetropolitanMuseum's EarlyChristian,

Byzantine, and medieval collections include anumber of lamps of different shapes and sizesthat are modest versions of these grandlightingschemes.

Theyinclude a

lampon a stand

(fig. 27,left), many portablelights of different designs,including one in the shape of a griffin (fig. 27,

top), and part of a tree light (fig. 27, right),

27. Theforms of ancient paganlamps were often adaptedtoChristianuse. Thefinely cast

griffin (top), for example, was

given a cross on its side. Itcould be suspendedby a chainor placedon a lamp stand likethe lamp with the scrollinghandle at the left. The six-branched tree lamp (right) may

have been set also on a standor hung as a chandelier. Itscross is incised with images ofSaint Stephen at the center,surroundedby the Virginand

Child, Saint Peter, Saints Cos-mas and Damian, and SaintPaul. Griffin lamp: Byzantine,6th century. Bronze, 1.91/4inches. Gift of Mr. and Mrs.

John J. Klejman, 1962 (62.7.i).

Lampand stand: Byzantine,6th century. Bronze, 163/4inches. FletcherFund,1961

(61.114.1a).Tree: Byzantine,6th-7th century (base mod-

ern). Bronze, brass, h. 13n/16inches. The Cloisters Collec-

tion, 1974 (1974.150)

i/ __ f



28, 29. The candlestick (fig. 28)is richly ornamented with ascale patternon its stem, rin-ceaux on its knops, and sirenson its foot. Its original bluetones have discolored. Still

brightand gleaming, however,is the altar lamp (fig. 29), a

Late Gothic example of a form

of church llumination noted inthe earliest records. The tradi-tion of continuously burninglamps in sanctuariesgoes backto biblical times. Fig. 28:

French, 3th century. Copper,champleveenamel, h. 15/2inches. Gift of J. PierpontMorgan, 1917 (17.190.345).

Fig. 29: Italian (Venice), late

14th-early 1ith century. Cop-per gilt, enamel, h. 16Vl nches.

Gift of J. PierpontMorgan,1917 (7.190.827)

which was attached later to another Christian

symbol, a hand holding a martyr's cross.None of the lamps mentioned so far seem to

have been placedon the altar. Recordsindicate

that by about the tenth or eleventh century twocandlestickswere kept on an altar and, later, as

many as seven pairs. Whether the enameled

pricket candlestick (fig. 28) in the Medieval

Treasury of the Metropolitan Museum servedthis function can only be speculated. Its heightof fifteen and a half inches would make it suit-ablefor such aposition. Altarcandlesticks,how-

ever, had to be supplemented by the generalillumination produced by the lights hangingabove the altar. That function may well havebeenfulfilledby the Venetian late fourteenth- to

early fifteenth-century hexagonal lamp (fig. 29),

notablefor its finely wrought arcadeswith beau-

tifully cast figures of prophets and saints.Crossesalso were a relatively late additionto

the altar. In the Early Christian period largecrosseswere included n the decorationof domesor apse vaults of the church, and smaller be-

jeweled crosses were carried in procession. Inthe mosaic panels of the apse of San Vitale inRavenna(fig. 30), the archbishopMaximianus,

walking in front of the emperor Justinianand

holding a cross, approachesthe church. In themedieval and later periods the seven stationchurches in Rome each had a richly decorated

cross, which its deacons carried in pomp tothe location of a particularfestival service-for

29

28

.t

A:l

.

I



30

30. San Vitale in Ravenna,

Italy, was founded in the time

of ArchbishopMaximianus bythe emperorJustinian and his

formidable consort, Theodora.In this mosaic from thechurch'sapse, the emperor,who never visited Ravenna, isshown carrying a paten,

Maximianus, a jeweled cross,and his deacons, the gospelbook and a censer. On the

opposite wall another mosaic

panel, not shown here, depictsTheodoraentering the churchwith a marvelous chalice. Thusthe founders furnished theirchurch with liturgical objectswithout which the service couldnot take place. San Vitale,Ravenna. Photograph courtesyof Hirmer Fotoarchiv,Munich

example, Christmas at Santa Maria Maggiore.The late twelfth-century cross (fig. 31) in the

treasury at The Cloisters, probably from the

abbeyof Bury Saint Edmunds n England,most

likely was madeas an altar crossrather than as a

processionalcross. Now missing is the corpusof

Christ. The complex imagery on the cross cen-

ters on the promiseof salvationthrough Christ's

sacrifice.Another twelfth-century cross, in the

Medieval Treasury Room, comes from the

church of San Salvadorde Fuentes, near Villa-

viciosain Oviedo Province(fig. 32). It bears thename of SancciaGuidisalvi,who may have been

its artist or its patron.This cross,however, mayhave been removed fromits base andslotted into

the shaft of a staff for use in processions.A later

medieval example of an altar cross from Spain

(fig. 33) that couldalso be carried n processionsis decoratedwith silver-gilt reliefs of Christand

saints on the front and symbols of the evan-

gelistsplacedon the arms arounda central mageof the Lambof God on the back. The evangelist

symbols originally were enameled. The cross is

attachedto a tall base that is ornamentedwith

piercedwindows and decorativebuttressesin thesame LateGothicstyle as that of the censer from

the Cathedralof Basel (fig. 16).The MetropolitanMuseum possesses a num-

ber of fragmentsof crossesthat were considered

of sufficientartisticand sacramentalworth to be

savedand stored,probably n churchtreasuries.

Thearchitectural hapeof an earlybronze stand

(fig. 34, right) recallsthat of the censer lid (fig.

15, right). Two other stands, in the Medieval

Treasury,may have been made to hold crosses.

One, of particularlyfine workmanship, shows

SaintsAugustine, Jerome,andGregory standingon dragons'heads (fig. 34, left). They hold upshell-shaped platformson which three angels sit

reading from books inscribedwith the churchfathers' names. The composition epitomizesthe mixture of religion and fantasy in HighRomanesqueart.

The MedievalTreasuryalsohas a largecollec-tion of corporaof Christ that have been sepa-rated from their now-lost crosses. Many are

exceptionallyfine and rare and for that reason

were preserved even though they could no

longer function in their original context. Thetwo illustratedhere, a Romanesqueworkin cop-per gilt from Germany (fig. 35) and a beautiful

31. This famous cross, oftenassociated with Saint Edmund's

abbey at Bury, England, isdecorated with eight scenes

from the Old and New Testa-ments on the front; the Lamb

of God, symbols ofthe evan-

gelists, and eighteen prophetsholding scrolls with their

prophesies appear on the back.The detail (at the left) ofthe Lambof God at the cross-

ing of the arms on the back

parallels similar images on two

Spanish crosses (figs. 32, 33).

English, late 12th century.Walrus ivory, traces of paint,h. 225/8 inches. The Cloisters

Collection, 1963 (63.12,127).

Photographs by Mario

Carrieri,courtesy of Olivetti



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33. Adam rising from his tombis also found on a much later

Spanish processional cross.Christ in Majesty, the Virgin,Saint John (now missing), andthe pelican in her piety areshown on the front and theLambof God and symbols ofthe evangelists on the back

(illustrated).Thefigures were

originally workedin translu-cent enamel, a techniquethat

unfortunately does not with-stand well the passage of time.The effect of candlelighton the

richly decoratedsurface musthave impressedthe congrega-tion of the churchin north-eastern Spainfor which thecrosswas made. Silver marks

from the town of Daroca in

Aragon are stamped in several

places on the cross, includingthe knopwith its piercedLateGothic arcades.

Spanish (Ara-gon), mid-15th century. Silver,

partly gilt, tracesof gilt andenamel (now lost) over walnut

wood, h. 361/2 nches. Gift ofElla Brummer,in memory ofher husband, ErnestBrummer,1982 (1982.363.1)

34. The towerlike structureofthe bronze stand (far right) is

typical of Early ChristianandByzantine bases for portablecrosses,although its simpleform is much less fanciful thanthat of most surviving exam-

ples. WesternEuropeanartists,on the other hand, were par-ticularlyfond of combining re-

ligious imagery with fantasy,as seen in the finely wroughtRomanesquecross stand

(right). In an appealing com-

position, angels readfrom the

writings of the Fathersof the

Church,who stand below onthe base's

dragon-headedfeet.

The artist's creativeimagina-tion is also evident in the

grand sweep of the angels'wings, which disguise the hol-low for the cross. Towerstand:

Byzantine, possibly 11th-12th

century. Said to comefromIstanbul. Bronze, h. 415/16

inches. Purchase,Mrs. CharlesF. Griffith Gift, 1962 (62.10.8).Standwith angels: Mosan,

150o-75. Bronze gilt, w. 514inches. Rogers Fund, 199

(19.106)



34

FrenchEarlyGothicivory (fig. 36), displayveryskillful craftsmanshipand sensitively portraythe dignified pathos of Christ on the cross.

In the Byzantine church, icons, like crosses,were set up on stands and carried n processionon feast days. The Museum has seven enamels

(fig.38) fromthe frame of a Georgian con of the

archangelGabriel.Although the frameandiconhave been lost, an old photograph(fig. 37) con-

juresup the sparklingmajesty the images must

have conveyed to the community of monks of

the Georgianmonastery of Djumati, for which

the icon was made.A finalimportantcategoryof liturgicalobject

is that of the bishop's crozier. Quite a few

croziers have survived from the medieval

period:some were handed down frombishopto

bishop; some were preserved because of their

fine quality; and many were buried in their

owners' tombs. These pastoral staffs adaptedtheir form from that of

shepherds'crooks,since

Christ-and, therefore, his bishops-charac-terized themselves as shepherdsof the Christian

flock. The materials used depended on the

wealth of the bishopric. The decoration,how-

ever, changed according o the iconographyand

style popular in a particularperiod. Survivingcroziers are usually of ivory or metal. In some

only the crook at the top of the crozierwas made

of precious material; in others the entire staff

was intricately decorated.Three croziersin the

Museum'scollection,two Frenchexamples(figs.

39, 40) and an Italian one (fig. 41), end in drag-ons' heads. The crook of fig. 40 enclosesa figureof Saint Michael slaying the dragon. The late

Italian vory crozier(fig. 41)combinesthe Lamb

of God with painted magesof saints or prophetson the foliate frame of the head. The shaft of a

croziercould also be richly carved, as on a re-

cently acquiredpiece at The Cloisters (figs. 42,43). Christandthe Virgin and ChildEnthroned

flankedby archangelsare shown in its uppertwo

registers;a depictionof what may be the inves-titure of a bishop decorates the registersbelow.

35, 36. The two corpora ofChrist are masterpiecesof theGerman Romanesque andFrenchGothicperiodsrespec-tively. The copper-gilt example(fig. 35) is extraordinarilyac-

complishedin the precisionofits modeling and the renderingof the complicated olds ofChrist's loincloth. The EarlyGothic ivory (fig. 36), by con-trast, stresses the stillness and

peacefulness of the deadChrist,freed from the agony ofcrucifixion.It has a lyricalquality that is enhancedby thewarm color of the ivory withits remains of the originalpaint. Fig. 35: German (possi-bly Rhineland), mid-12th cen-

tury. Coppergilt, h. 8 inches.

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan,1917 (17.190.209). Fig. 36:French(probablyParis), ca.

1230-50. Ivory, with traces of

polychromy, h. 61/2 nches. Giftof Mr. and Mrs. Maxime L.

Hermanos, 1978 (1978.521.3)



37, 38. Theseenamels (fig. 38),from the monastery ofDjumati in Georgia are amongthe finest made duringthe lateeleventh and early twelfth cen-turies in the Byzantine empire.They may well have been com-missioned by a Georgianeccle-siastic from a workshopin

Constantinopleor have beensent as a gift from some highGreekofficial to Georgia,where they were used on the

frame of a large icon of the

archangelGabriel,as seen inan old photograph (fig. 37).

The detail (right) shows Saint

Luke,who appearson the rightside of the icon. Georgian cop-ies of the enamels were madeto decoratea companionicon

of Saint Michael that still sur-vives in the Museum of Fine

Arts, Tiflis, Georgia. Fig. 37:FromN. P. Kondakov,Ge-schichte und Denkmalerdes

ByzantinischenEmails: Samm-

lung A. W. Swenigorodskoi,Frankfurtam Main, 1889-92.Fig.38: Byzantine, late lith-

early 12th century. Enamel,

gold, diam. of each 31/4inches.

Gift of J. PierpontMorgan,

1917 (17.190.670-78)

35



36

39, 40. The imagery of a

dragonis found on threecroziersillustrated on this andthe opposite page (figs. 39-41).The two works shown belowwere made in France. The re-strained decorationof the ivorycrozierhead (fig. 39), with its

graceful acanthus-leaf orna-

ment that complementsthestylized dragon's head (itsoriginal freestanding statuetteis missing), contrastswith that

of the more richly workedenameled piece (fig. 40), in

which the patterns of the

dragon'sscales and spine pro-vide a fierce frame for Saint

Michael, who spears the

dragonin the center. Open-

work dragons also ring thecrozier at the knop, while onthe shaft three dragonsframethe more traditionalfloral im-

agery. Fig.39: French,late

I2th-early I3th century.Ivory, h. 61/2 nches. Gift ofJ. PierpontMorgan, i917

(17.190.232). Fig. 40: French

(Limoges), late 12th-early 13thcentury. Champleveenamel on

copper,partly gilt, h. 127/8

inches. The Friedsam Collec-

tion, Bequestof Michael

Friedsam,1931(32.100.289)

39

40



37

41. The decorationof thiscrozier is conceivedin quite a

differentmode, one that is intune with its northern Italian,Late Gothic origin. The volute

of the head emerges gentlyfrom a dragon'smouth butterminatesin the tongue of amore ferocious monster.

Within is a stern Lambof God.Largecrocketspainted with

flowers springfrom the volute.A towered"wall," which re-

places the customarily circular

knop, is decoratedwith imagesof four saints between two

floral panels. The archangelGabriel'swords to the Virginannouncing the conceptionofChrist decoratethe front andbacksurfaces of the volute.Flowersare also painted on the

shaft, which unscrewsinto foursections. A fifth piece may be

missing,since croziers

ofthis

periodtendedto be very tall.North Italian, early 14th cen-

tury. Ivory, polychromy,h. 5 feet, i inch. The Cloisters

Collection,1953 (53.63.4)

42, 43. Also richly decorated sa segment of a crozier's stem

(two views shown), whose im-

agery, developingfrom thebottom to the top, begins withthe installation of a bishop.The two central bands depictrejoicingangels, who mediatebetween the earthly scene be-low and the celestial visionsabove. There the VirginandChild are enthronedwhile

Christ,in a mandorla thatteemswith tiny figures of theeldersof the Apocalypse, over-sees the world. ProbablyEnglish,first half of the 12th

century.Ivory, h. iil/4 inches.The CloistersCollection,198i

(1981.1)41



38

SJRVICE BOOKS

THE ART OF BOOK ILLUMINATION was never somagnificently practiced as during the EarlyChristian period and the Middle Ages. A finebalance was struck between the magnificentforms of the letters of the text and the illustra-tions that decorated t. The latterranged n scalefrom ornamental initials at the beginnings of

chaptersor even paragraphs figs. 46, 47) to full-

pagepicturesof episodesin the life of Christthatweredescribedor just alluded to in the text (figs.44, 45). Many different books, ranging frombibles and gospel books to accounts of saints'

lives, wereillustrated.Servicebooks,which were

written as guides for the conduct of the liturgy,were not consideredembodimentsof the word ofGodand,accordingly, placedon the altar ikethe

gospel book, but they were often richly illumi-nated. In our modern age of printing tech-

nology, it is difficult to imagine how arduousit

must have been to make and write these books,let alone to illustrate them. Not only was the

copying trying, but the task of finding the rightmodel to copy and confirmingthat its text was

accuratewas time-consuming. Alcuin the En-

glishman, one of the emperor Charlemagne'schief scholars and advisors, for example, spent

many years in assuring that correct texts wereproducedfor the church's use throughout the

CarolingianEmpire.When a text was also richlyilluminated, its importance and worth multi-

plied, making its survival more likely.The Metropolitanhas never actively collected

manuscriptson a large scale becauseof the rich

collections at the Pierpont Morgan Libraryin

New York. The Museum does have a few fine

examples that were purchased or accepted as

gifts because of their handsome illuminations.

The sacramentary,which was the priest'spri-

maryservicebook for the conductof the Mass in

the EarlyChristianand early medieval periods,is not representedin the Museum's collection.

Justfour years ago, however, the Medieval De-

partment acquired a full-page illumination of

the Crucifixion rom a missal, the expandedser-

vice book that replacedthe sacramentary n thethirteenth century (fig. 44). It was made in thethirdquarterof the thirteenth century, probablyin Paris,and exhibits many of the finest charac-teristics of its school. The twisted body of Christon the cross dominates the illumination. Below,Adam rises from his sarcophagus n the hill of

Golgotha and clasps the cross's stem, while

above, angels carry symbols of the sun andmoon. On either side of Christ, the Virgin andSaint John lament his sacrifice. The formal, re-strained emotion of the illustration is comple-mented by the rich, textilelike background,againstwhich the figures are placedas in a tab-

leau, emphasizing the regal timelessness ofChrist's sacrificeon the cross and of the Lord's

redemptivepowers.One of the finest liturgical manuscripts n the

collectionis a portionof a psalter prefacedby anillustrated calendar and three pages of scenesfrom the Passion of Christ. It comes from the

abbeyof Fontevrault n Franceand was madefora royal English patron. The scenes illustratedin

figure45 depictChrist'sprayers n the GardenofGethsemene and his subsequent arrest. Their

compositions of densely packed, active figuresare set in landscapesthat, in the nervous formsof trees and plants, enter into the drama.

Music and choralresponseshave always beenan integral partof the Christian service. Duringthe preparationand celebration of the Mass, atrainedchoir, called the schola cantorum, usu-

ally sang appointedtexts, which were gatheredin a book called the antiphonary. As time went

on, this book was joined to the prayers, like theAlleluia chant, that were formerly sung by the

congregation but were now assigned to the

choir;the expandedbook was called the gradual.The customarylarge format of these songbooksallowed for anunusually grandandstately deco-

ration,with the page laid out in barsof musical

notes and the text written below. Sometimes thebooks were also magnificently decorated with

figural initials. One example of exceptional

quality (fig. 46) was written and illuminated at

Ferrara n the fifteenth century by CosimoTura

and members of his school. The initial A illus-

trated is a work of the famous master. The Mu-seum alsopossesses a miscellanyof single leavesfromantiphonariesandgraduals-among them,a pagewith an illustration of a bishopsaintat an

altar (fig. 7) and a splendid sheet with a richly

gildedillustration of the Assumption of the Vir-

gin by Nicola di ser Sozzo (fig. 47).An illumination (fig. 48) decoratinga single

page of an unidentified Italian manuscript of

the fourteenth century, although it is not a

masterpiece,sheds light on the booksassociated

with services other than that of the Mass. The

leaf is headedby an illustrationof a betrothal or



39

44.This

beautifulillumination

of the Crucifixion,along withits pendant image of Christ in

Majesty (FitzwilliamMuseum,

Cambridge,England),mayhave decoratedthe text of thecanon of the Mass in a missal.Its richly ornamented,fabric-like backgroundand its delicate

drawingstyle relate it to the

finest school of contemporarymanuscript production n Paris.

French,ca. 1270. Temperaand

gold leaf on parchment,83/4X57/8 inches. Purchase, Bequest

of Thomas W. Lamont, by

exchange,198I (1981.322)

marriagescene, and below is the beginning ofthe fourth book of the text of the marriageser-

vice,surroundedby a scholium,orcommentary,densely written in the margins.

Whether these richly decorated books were

kept in the church's sanctuary, its treasury, orthe library-all were possible-depended to a

great extent on the character of the establish-ment. A large and prosperouschurch like SanMarcokept its books in current use in the sac-

risty. Others were kept in the treasury untiltheir ultimate transferral n the nineteenth cen-

tury to the Marciana Library. On the other

hand, the booksgiven by Henry IIto the Cathe-dralof Bamberg n Germany seem to have been

keptwith the reliquariesandliturgicalvessels inthe treasury throughout the history of thechurch. Only in modern times were some ofthese transferred to the state library and the

treasuryof the Residenz in Munich.



40

.1



41

45. Although only a few illu-minations survive from this

Englishpsalter, they are inexcellentcondition. The man-neredyet lively poses of the

figures are matched by the

abstracted,animatedforms ofthe landscape.The interest inline and evocative movement is

characteristicof English draw-ing style throughout the medi-eval era. English, ca. 1260.

From the abbey of Fontevraultin France.Temperaand goldand silver leaf on parchment,h. 115/8 inches. Rogers Fund,

1922 (22.24.4)

46. Dramatic action that ischaracteristicof northern Ital-ian style animates this mar-velous illustration of the

Assumption of the Virginfroma fifteenth-century gradual.The clarity with which the

figures are portrayedand their

expressivefaces, complementedby the strong, hard-edgeddepictionof the dragon-ornamentedinitial A, havecausedthis and another minia-turefrom the same manuscriptto be attributedto Cosimo

Tura,the well-known artistwho worked in Ferrara n thesecondhalf of the fifteenthcentury. The text begins"Assu[mptaest Ma]ria in

[coelumgaud]e[n]t angelilaude[n]t[eset benedicuntDominum .. .]." Italian

(Fer-rara), i5th century. By CosimoTura.Temperaand gold leaf on

parchment, 17/2 X 12 inches.

RogersFund,1911 11.50.1)



zJ



43

47. TheAssumption of the Vir-

gin fills this beautifully paintedinitial V on a page of a verylarge antiphonary. Dressed inrichwhite robes embroideredwith gold, the Virginis carriedto heaven in an aureole of lightby a choir of angels. In theminiature she seems to hover

above the earth and her tomb,which is illustrated in sharpperspective.The illumination isattributed to a fine Sienese

artist, Nicola di ser Sozzo.Italian (Siena), ca. 1334-36.

Temperaand gold leaf on

parchment, 225/8 X 157/8

inches. Gift of Louis L.

Lorillard, 1896 (96.32.12)

48. This delightful miniatureillustrates the opening of the

fourth book of the service ofbetrothaland marriage in anItalian

manuscript ofthe

earlyfourteenth century. The pro-spectivebrideand groom kneelin front of a tonsuredpriest, towhom they are presented byfour relatives or friends,among them a Franciscanmonk on the right. Commen-

tary on the text is written inthe margins of the page. Ital-ian (perhaps Tuscany), early14th century. Tempera, nk,andgold leaf on parchment,133/8X s5/8 inches. Gift ofHarry G. Friedman, 1955

(55.18.3)



44

RELIQUARIES

TODAY, AS IN THE PAST, perhaps the most eye-catchingand startlingobjectsin a church's trea-

sury are the reliquaries. Like the chalices and

patensof the Eucharist, hey were often made of

preciousmaterials andstudded with jewels. Un-like those liturgical objects,however, reliquariesdid not have to be confined to the functional

shapesof utilitarianvessels. They came in awide

variety of designs, ranging from small boxes to

large-scaledcontainers in the shape of the en-closed relic, which was often part of a saint's

body. Indeed, this element of surrealismwas

probably cultivated because of its emotional

effect upon the faithful. The relics housed wereoften small particlesof a much largerwhole, sothat severalor even many could be enclosedin a

single container. Themost importantrelics werethose of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the apostles,and other Early Christianmartyrs. As early as

the mid-fourth century, there is mention of the

relics of the True Cross encased in rings andworn aroundthe neck.

By the fifthcentury, a large partof the crossof

Christ was kept at the Constantinian church ofthe Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem,where a pil-grim namedEgeriasaw it during the servicesof

Holy Week. Likemany intrepid pilgrims of theEarlyChristianage, Egeriaspent two and a half

yearson avoyage from either Spainor France o

the Holy Land,where she was deeply moved bythe mystery of the services she attendedand bythe richness of church architecture and the

splendorof its decoration. Particularlyvivid inher account of the pilgrimageis her descriptionof gatheringwith other pilgrimsto kiss the relic

of the True Cross. It was taken from its silver-

gilt reliquaryby the bishopof Jerusalem,whose

deacons, accordingto Egeria,carefully watched

the pilgrims, since sometime earlier a man had

taken a bite from the cross to carry away as a

preciousrelic. Egeriaalso visited other churchesfounded by Constantine in the Holy Land, in-

cluding the church at Hebron on the plains of

Mamre, where Jewish and pagan shrines al-

ready existed. There three angels perceivedbyChristians as being trinitarian had appearedto Abraham.

These and many other Christian sanctuariescontinued the pagan custom of providing me-mentos for pilgrims. At the Christianshrines a

variety of objectswere offered, includingtokens

stampedwith the image of the saint honoredand

flasksthat were filled with soil from the site oroil from the lamps that burned in the sanctu-aries. They were made in a variety of materials

ranging from gold to pressed clay, so that nomatterhow richor how poorthe pilgrim,he wasable to take back a memento of his trip, whichhad been made sacred through contact withthe holy shrine.

The burial sites of apostles and martyrswerealso early honored by markers, then by small

chapels,andfinally by largechurches ike that ofSaint Peter's. Constantine directed that theVatican Hill be partially leveled so that the

church's apse would rise directly over Peter'stomb, which had been marked by a smallaedicula in the third century. By the late sixth

century, the number of people who came to

worship at Saint Peter's was so great that the

apseof the church was raised,probablyby PopeGregory the Great, and a grilled window bywhich the faithful could view the apostle'stropaion(ortrophy) was created. Lateraccountsin The Book of the Popes describedthe com-

memorativemonument's setting amid splendidgold and silver lamps and icons. In Francethe

bodyof anothersaint, Martin of Tours,rested in

the crypt of his fourth-century church,built inthe cemetery in which he was buried, until thelate sixth century. At that time his body was

brought up to the apsebehind the altar,where itwas placedunder a canopy of honor with lampsandcandlessuspendedand standingall around.

Pilgrims approached he tomb from an atriumthat was built behind the apse wall. The tombwas covered with a cloth, or pala, which theinfirm touched in the hope of being cured. Ac-

cording o Gregoryof Tours,the cure sometimeswas effected by the saint only after the infirm

person had resided there for severalyears.Even if a church had no physical connection

with an important Christian site, its founders

sought relicsto give legitimacy and worth to thefoundation. Paulinus of Nola, for example, col-lected relicsof apostlesand saints for the altar ofhis new church at Nola in the late fourthcentury(seep. 5). Although the recordof the inscriptionthat he placed in the church's apse does not

mention whether the relicswere put into a con-tainer before being placed under the altar, thecustom at other churchesseems to have been to

placerelics in a reliquarythat was usually fash-ioned from preciousmaterials. One of the most

49. Thestained-glass segmentdepictsworshiperskneeling in

prayer in front of a reliquarycasket raised on a beam behindan altar. The scene presumablytakes place in CanterburyCathedral,for this work fromthe last quarter of the twelfthcentury belongs to thatchurch'smagnificent choirwindows. Photo courtesy of theVictoria and Albert Museum,London



45

beautiful reliquaries of this period is a silvercasket that was found with three leaden boxesunder the main altar of the Church of the

Apostles (laterSan NazaroMaggiore)

in Milan.A sixth-century silver box in the Vatican wasfound to contain relics when it was discoveredburied in a church's foundation at HenchirZirara n Algeria (see The Vatican Collections:The Papacy and Art, exh. cat., MetropolitanMuseum of Art, New York,1983, no. 35).

By the ninth century reliquarieswere set onchurch altars, formerly reserved for gospelbooks. As the reliquaries grew in size and in

sumptuousness, other sites were found forthem. Saint Thomas Becket's sarcophaguswasset up behind the main altar of CanterburyCa-thedral on a high base, and a number of reli-

quaries were fastened to the beams above thevarious altars of the church by chains (see fig.49). Since there were often many altars in a

church,each was usually dedicated o a different

saint, whose relics it contained, and the liturgyof the services was adapted o includeprayersatsome or all of them. Pilgrims,following either a

priestor the text of aguidebook,wouldvisit eachsite in a church. Anthony of Novgorod, for ex-

ample,visited Constantinople n 1201 and wrotea diaryof his trip in which he listed not only his

itinerary of the chapels and relics within the

greatchurchof HagiaSophiabut also his tour ofother Constantinopolitan churches, includingthe church of the Virgin of the Lighthousecon-

taining the treasure of the imperial palace ofBoucoleon. The palace'scollections of relics and

precious objects were renowned throughoutChristendom and providedan important partof

the booty of the Fourth Crusade. AlthoughWestern medieval sovereigns like Charlemagnebuilt up vast treasures, the Byzantine emperorsfarexcelledthem in this enterprise. Thus, SaintLouis of France (1214-1270) spent an enormous

amount of money buying many relics,includingthe Crown of Thorns and a part of the True

Cross, from the Latin emperor of Constanti-

nople. For them he built the largest reliquaryever made-the Sainte-Chapellein Paris.

The True Cross was certainlyone of the most

important Christian relics, since from earliesttimes the sign of the cross was the emblem for

the Christian community. Accordingto legendthe True Cross was found by Constantine's

mother,Helena. It was on landownedby Helenathat the Churchof SantaCroce n Gerusalemmewas built in Rome by her son Constantine andhergrandsons,who endowedit with a relic ofthecross encased n goldandjewels. Thelargestpartwas kept at the church of the Holy Sepulcher,where Egeriasaw it. Its importanceas a Chris-tian talisman caused the Persians to carry it to

Ctesiphon after their conquest of Jerusalemin

614. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius, how-

ever, retrieved it for Jerusalem n 630 andthen,in the face of Arab invasions, carried t to Con-

stantinople for safekeeping. Throughout the

history of the Middle Ages, therefore, Con-

stantinople,Jerusalem,and Rome were the cen-ters for the dissemination of the relic. The relicof the True Cross, usually encased in a lux-

uriouslydecoratedbox,wascarriedn processionand held aloft by the priest from the pulpit onthe Feast of the True Cross, celebrated on Sep-tember 14.

Over eleven hundred reliquariesof the TrueCross are known. They are found in church

treasuries, in museums, or are known throughdescriptions n surviving texts. One of the ear-

liest examples is a finely made small casket

(fig. 53, right) in the Medieval Department,probably from the Byzantine empire, judgingfrom its inscriptions and the fine quality of itstranslucent enamels. The sliding lid, which isdecoratedwith a Crucifixion n enamel, has fourscenes from the life of Christ on its underside. Itdrawsback to reveal five interior compartmentsfor relics laid out in the shape of a cross. This

preciousreliquarywas probablykept in at leastone other container,for it was often the customto house a relic in a series of interfitting boxes,



46

51



47

50-52. Precious relics fre-

quently were placedin a series

of interfitting reliquariesofdifferentmaterials. Of thesethree boxesfound at Zana-

Vartepe,near Varna,Bulgaria,the outer (fig. 52) is made offinely polished marble, the in-termediate(fig. 51) of silver,and the innermost (fig. 50),which contained the relic, ofgold and gems. It is thoughtthat the gold box may have

53. The lid of the smallerenameled reliquary of the TrueCrossshown here

depictsChristalive on the cross,

flanked by mourning figures ofthe Virginand Saint John.Busts of apostles, churchfa-thers, and saints adorn thebox's lid and sides. The clarityand richnessof color reveal askilledpreparationof the

enamel, but the awkward ren-

deringof the figures and in-

scriptions,as well as theintrusion of one color uponanother,points to a less ableartist. Consequently this earlyand rare reliquaryhas been

variouslydated

fromthe

eighth to the tenth century,and proposalsfor its place ofmanufacture range from Italyto the Holy Land. The beauti-

ful enamels that have beenreconstructed o form the

largerreliquarydisplay a love

of rhythmic decorationand a

refinement of color that arecharacteristicof early medieval

champleveenameling. In this

view, vivid images of censingangels flanking the hand ofGod are depictedabove Christ,the Virgin,and Saint Mar-

tialis. Saint Paul holding abookappearson the left shortside. Smaller reliquary: Byz-antine, probably gth century.Cloisonne enamel on gold;silver, partly gilt; niello;1.4 inches. Gift of J. PierpontMorgan, i917 (17.i90.715).

Largerreliquary: Northern

Spanish or southern French,late iith century. Champleveenamel on coppergilt; as re-

constructed,w. 714 inches. Giftof I. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

(17.190.685-87, 695, 710, 7i)

been made for secular use inthe late fourth or early fifthcentury and employed in thesixth in this set. Fig.5o:Byzantine, late 4th-early 5thcentury. Wood, gold, gems,garnet inlay, I. 29/16 inches.

Figs.51, 52: Byzantine, 6th

century. Fig. 51: Silver, I. 45/16

inches. Fig. 52: Marble, 1.83/16inches. National Museum,Varna, Bulgaria

54. The Mosan area in present-day Belgium was famous inthe eleventh and twelfth cen-turies not only for its excellent

enameling but also for its mas-

tery of the techniquesof niello

on silver, filigree, and beading.The applique plaques (detail,above) on the bordersofthe sleeve of this arm reliquaryare among the best examplesof these arts to survive. The

imagery seems to be closelyconnected to the service ofCommunion and to the charac-ter of the bishopsaint forwhose relic the arm reliquarywas probably made. Mosan,1220-30. Sleeve: silver over

oak; hand: bronzegilt; appli-que plaques: silver gilt, niello,

gems; h. 24V/2nches. The

Cloisters Collection, 1947(47- 101.33)



T " -/ ' :"' ' ''" ,' ?,'" s .'

I"':~i'?' . "

I T ; r .

J?,,,; -|s~~~~~'=rSt''*~~;



49

55. Saint Julianais depicted nthis reliquarybust that holds a

fragment of her cranium.As a

young woman, Julianawas

martyredfor her faith duringthe fourth century in Nico-

media, and thus she is shownwith golden hair, peaches-and-creamcomplexion, brown eyes,

and pert, red lips. She even hasa dimplein her chin. Thisindividual "likeness"of the

early saint, for whom little

factual information exists,

deliberatelyseeks to bringJulianato life in the wor-

shiper'sconsciousness,sincethe saint was believedto act on

behalf of the faithful throughher image. Italian, ca. 1476.Made by a Roman masternamed Guglielmo. From theconventof Santa Giuliana in

Perugia.Gesso over copper,copper gilt, tempera, h. 1iil6

inches. The Cloisters Collec-tion, 1961(61.266)

56. The cult of Saint Margaretof Antioch was much more

widespreadthan that of Saint

Juliana.Particularly popular inthe eastern Mediterranean

countries,her cult spread

rapidlyin the West

fromthe

twelfth century on, perhapsbecauseof the devotion of re-

turning Crusaders.Her apoc-ryphal adventureswith a

dragonare depictedon thisleatherreliquaryin the form ofa shoe believedto contain asmall piece of a bone from her

foot. French,14th century.Brownleather (cuir bouilli),tooled and embossed,paint,iron gilt (lock), 1.1o1/4 nches.The CloistersCollection,1947(47.101.65)

the smallest of which contained the actual relicand was made of the most precious material.Such a set of three reliquarieswas found near

Varna, Bulgaria (figs. 50-52).The sarcophagus shape, appropriate to funer-

ary art, remained a common form for reliquar-ies. A reconstruction of a very fine enameled box

(fig. 53, left)in the Museum's Medieval Trea-

sury reveals that it was of this type. Its rare late

eleventh-century plaques were made either in

northern Spain or in southern France, early in

the development of the type of champleve enam-

eling that would become extremely popular dur-

ing the Middle Ages. Christ Enthroned, flanked

by Saints Martialis and Mary Magdalene, is de-

picted on the front; symbols of the four evan-

gelists are shown on the back. Images of Peter

and Paul decorate the end of the casket, which

may have held relics of several of these saints,since the inclusion of multiple relics in a singlecontainer was not unusual.

Other reliquaries in the Metropolitan's collec-

tion adopt their shape from the character of the

relic contained. A large number represent arms,

presumably because each sheltered a fragment of

an arm bone of a particular saint. Among the

three arm reliquaries in the Metropolitan Mu-

seum's collection, one fine example (fig. 54),

probably made in the area of the Meuse River

around 1220-30, is now in the treasury at The

Cloisters. Its jeweled and nielloed decoration

typifies the finest workmanship of the periodin this area of great artistic creativity. Charac-

teristic of an arm reliquary is the richly bordered

sleeve, worked to show the folds of the vestmentas it clung to the unknown saint-presumably a

priest or bishop shown in the act of raising his

hand in blessing. Two small rectangular open-

ings cut into the wooden core beneath the silver

exterior originally held the relics. Also charac-

teristic of the period is the alternation of jeweledand nielloed silver plaques, most of which dis-

play floral or animal ornament. Two of the

plaques, however, depict censing angels who

may signify the subdeacons who censed thebreadandwine at the time of consecrationdur-

ing the preparationof the Eucharist. A third

(detail)shows a bell ringer, perhapsthe acolytewho rang hand bells to signal the moments oftransformation of the bread and wine intoChrist's

BodyandBlood. Above the bell

ringeris

a third angel, who appearsto carrythe Host inhis drapedhands. This imagery may refer to thesaint's most important function as a bishop or

priest officiatingin his church at the Eucharist.A prominent place in the imagery is given toSaintsPeterand Paul. Peter holds his customarycross,keys, andbook,but Paulcarriesamodel ofa church,which is an attribute often connectedwith the founding of a basilica-in this case

perhaps the church built by the bishop saintwhose arm reliquarythis was.

Reliquaries n the shapeof human busts were

equally popular.The Museum's collectionshavetwo of these reliquaries. The earliest, in themain building's treasury, is a bust of SaintYrieux that comes from the abbey church of

Attane, France,which was foundedby the saintin the sixth century. Its original wooden corestill survives inside a jeweled silver casing. Thesecond (fig. 55), a very fine sculpture of thefourthquarterof the fourteenthcentury, depictsthe Early Christian martyr Saint Juliana andcomes from the convent foundedin her honor in

Perugia, Italy. Curiously, the head is shapedfrom an earliercopperreliquaryhead of a man,which was covered with a thick layer of gessoandthen shapedandpaintedin the image of theyoung martyr of Nicomedia, Bithynia (nowIzmit, Turkey). According to the fragmentaryinscriptionof the reliquary'sbase, the head wasmade in Rome by an artist named Guglielmo(William). The history of the relic in this beau-tiful head is well documented. The fragment ofSaint Juliana's cranium first belonged to the

monastery of Saint Dominic in Perugia, but atthe requestof Gabriella,abbess of SaintJuliana's

monastery, it was transferred in 1376 to theconvent in Perugia. The tabernacle in which itwas originally shown at the convent is now in

the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria,Perugia.A reliquary of Saint Margaret (fig. 56) in

the shape of another extremity of the human

body, the foot, is also displayedat The Cloisters.It is formed on a wooden core, covered with em-

bossed-and-painted eather images of the life ofthis most popularearly martyr.

The Metropolitan's statue reliquaryof Saint

Christopher carrying the Christ Child on hisshoulder (fig. 57) is made of partly gilded silverand standsalmost two feet high. Its relic, prob-ably of the saint, was placedin the now-empty



50

box set in front of the statue's pedestal rather

than hidden in the sculpture tself like the relics

of the SaintJulianaand the armreliquaryat The

Cloisters. The box was probably covered by a

crystalsheet through which the contents could

be viewed. This directpresentationof the relic to

the donor andworshiperis characteristicof the

growing religious fervor of the later MiddleAges, as is the dramatic uxtapositioncreatedbythe active pose of Saint Christopher and the

serene, remote figure of the Christ Child who

stands on his shoulder.Threeof the MetropolitanMuseum'sreliquar-

ies of Saint Thomas Becket (118 ?-1170), arch-

bishop of Canterbury,were all made within a

few decadesof his murder at CanterburyCathe-

dral. In this short periodof time, Becket'stomb

becamethe destination of one of the most im-

portant pilgrimage routes in Europe. Relics of

the saint were sought eagerlyfrom the very time

of his death.Figure 59, left,

shows one of the

earliestreliquariesmade to honorSaint Thomas:

a casket that contains the relic of his blood,

according o an inscriptionaccompanyingan il-

lustrationof his burial on the backof the nielloed

silver box. An angel is shown carryingthe soul

of the saint to heaven on one side of the lid and

Saint Thomas's martyrdom is depicted on the

other. Angels, together with acanthus orna-

ment, appearon the casket's wo short ends. The

box is crownedby a glass cabochonset over red-

coloredfoil. The beautiful metalworkwas prob-

ably executed by an artist working in England

shortlyafter the murderof Becketin the cathe-

dral. The interior of the reliquary s divided nto

two parts,a fact that promptedspeculationthat

this reliquary contained the two vials of the

saint's blood that the philosopherJohnof Salis-

bury, who was chief minister and secretary to

Becket, gave to the Cathedral of Chartres in

1176,just six years after the saint's murder.

A second, equally early, reliquary of Saint

Thomas'sblood (fig. 59, right) in the Museum's

collectionwas made in the form of a pendant.BishopRainaudBatoniorum,probablyReginaldFitz Jocelin, bishop of Bath from 1174 to 1191,had it made for Margaret,queen of Sicily, who

died in 1183. Despite the pendant's small size,the reliquary held a particle of the murdered

archbishop'sblood-soaked robes and shoe, ac-

cording to the inscriptions. A third reliquary

(fig. 60) containing relics of Becket and other

saints was recently acquired or The Cloisters. It

is a sturdy copperbox raised on animal-shapedfeet and incised with images of Christ and of

saints who were honored at CanterburyCathe-

dral. This box still retainsthe ring by which the

containermay have been secured to one of the

beams in a chapelof the cathedral.



51

57. This imposing statuette-

reliquaryof Saint Christophercarryingthe Christ Childwasmade in the silversmith shopsof Toulouse,France,as its hall-

marks,stamped on the hem ofthe saint's cloak and on thestatue's base, clearly show. Thenow-lost relic,presumably ofSaint Christopher,was placedin the small box on the statue'sbase rather than hidden insidethe statuette as had been thecustom in earlier times; thebox was probablycoveredwith

crystal, through which the reliccould be clearly seen by wor-

shipers. The reliquary, in anexcellentstate of preservation,revealsnot only the excep-tional skill of the late medievalFrenchsilversmiths, but alsotheirpleasure in juxtaposinglarge areas of silver with brightflashes of

gilding.

French

(Toulouse), ca. 1400. From

the churchof Castelnaudary,near Toulouse. Silver, partlygilt, h. 235/8 inches. Gift ofI. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

(17.190.361)

58. Small ivory and bone

plaques carvedwith figuresfrom classical literature and

heraldrydecorate this finetenth-century Byzantine cas-

ket, which may have beenmade as a jewelry box. Later,

perhapsin the wake of theCrusaders'

conquest ofCon-

stantinople in 1204, the box

was brought to the churchofSaints Peter and Paul at Kra-

nenburg,Germany, where it

probablyserved as a reliquary,since this was the fate of sim-ilar Byzantine ivory caskets inthe West. Byzantine, loth cen-

tury. From the parish church

of Saints Peter and Paul at

Kranenburg,Germany. Ivoryand bone with tracesof gilding,1.174 inches.GiftofJ.PierpontMorgan, 1917 (17.190.237)

Not all reliquaries were made expressly toholdtheirrelics. Sometimesapreciouscontainerthat had been used for quite a differentpurposewasreused as areliquary.Suchis the historyof a

rectangularbox (fig. 58) decoratedwith imagerydrawn from classical iterature andmyth. Madein the Byzantine empire in the tenth century,

the box could have been either purchased by aLatin visitor to Constantinople or stolen as

plunderfollowing the sack of the city in 1204. Inthe West, it was eventually given to the parishchurch of Saints Peter and Paul at Kranenburgand was later purchasedby J. PierpontMorganin the early part of this century. The Metro-

politan Museum possesses several of these

Byzantine caskets, which may have served as

jewelry boxes for members of the nobility.Two reliquariesfrom the Medieval Treasury

that are decorated with gold-painted glass im-

ages (verreeglomise) representthe LateGothic

periodin

Italy.One

(fig. 61), probablymade in

Florence in the late fifteenth century, is de-

scribed as containing the tooth of Saint Mary

Magdalene. The relic is encased in a crystalalmond-shaped container that is fixed in an

openwork turreted shrine set on a chalicelikebase. From the crown of the shrine rises a late

fourteenth-century glassdiskdepictingthe Cru-cifixionon one side andthe Nativity (detail)onthe other. This type of reliquary clearlyimitatesa monstrance of the Host that was held aloft

during the celebration of the Eucharist. Thetooth reliquarymust also have been elevated for

viewing and probablywas carried n procession

during feast days.The same painted-glass technique was used

for a diptychicon (fig. 62). Scenes of the Nativ-

ity and Crucifixionare depictedon the interior.

They are framedby symbols of the evangelistsand images of saints, whose relics are enclosedunder glass panels, inscribed with identifyingtexts. The relatively small size of the reliquary,

as well as its intricately ordered subject matter,indicates that it may have been used for devo-

tion at home or in private chapels founded by

wealthy patrons within the church proper.

The Communion vessels, altar equipment, ser-

vice books, and reliquaries that fill this Bulletin

are some of the finest surviving works of medi-eval art, and their relation to the rest of the

collections in the Medieval Department and at

The Cloisters is reflective of life and society in

the Middle Ages. The works discussed here are

displayed in the Museum's galleries with a largenumber of secular objects, including silver-gilt

drinking cups, hardstone ewers in metalwork

mounts, aquamaniles, ivory boxes decorated

with scenes of medieval romance, and even gam-

ing pieces. This combination of religious and

secular vessels was not uncommon in medieval

treasuries. Often, especially in royal founda-

tions likeSaint-Denis, imperial regalia joinedthe liturgical vessels, and in the treasury of San

Marco hardstone drinking vessels and jewelswere locked away in chests. Trunks of coins are

also recorded; the money at the abbey of Saint

Benedict at Monte Cassino in Italy, for example,was "borrowed" by a local duke to pay for arma-

ments during an unsuccessful war.

Moreover, the treasuries of the Medieval

Department and The Cloisters should not be

viewed as segregated from the architecture,

sculpture, paintings, and tapestries that are dis-

played in the adjacent rooms. The reliquaries,crosses, censers, situlae, and books kept in medi-

eval treasuries were carried in procession by the

clergy, robed in richly embroidered vestments,amidst the splendor of brightly colored sculp-ture, frescoes, and tapestries adorning the

church's walls. Indeed, the treasury objects de-

scribed in this Bulletin take their place amongthe most glorious creations of medieval artists

and craftsmen.



52

59, 60. TheproliferationofThomasBecket's relics shortlyafter his murderin CanterburyCathedral s evidencedby thethree reliquariesshown onthese facing pages. Two earlyexamplesmade in preciousma-terials are the small box deco-ratedwith scenes of Saint

Thomas'smartyrdom (fig. 59,left) and the gold pendant,calleda phylactery (fig. 59,right), that was made for

Queen Margaret of Sicily be-

fore her death in 1183.On thelatter, the queen receives therelics of Thomas'sblood-soaked robes, belt, and shoe

from a bishop,probablythe

pendant's donor, Reginald Fitz

Jocelin,bishop of Bath. The

large coppercasket (fig. 60)was made about thirty yearsafter the saint's death in 1170,

perhaps for one of the chapelsin the cathedral(comparefig.

49). It is decoratedwith imagesof Christ and thirteen saints,whose relics it may have con-tained. Silver casket (fig. 59,left): English, ca. 1173-76. Saidto have been found in Sicily.Silver, partly gilt, niello, glassgem, h. 214 inches. Gift ofJ. PierpontMorgan, 1917

(17.190.520). Pendant(fig. 59,right): English, ca. 1174-76.Gold, crystal, 1.2 inches.

Purchase,JosephPulitzer

Bequest, 1963 (63.16o). Fig. 60:

English, ca. 1200. Copper gilt,I. o1 inches. The CloistersCollection, 1980 (1980.417)

60



A-kr-t.



54

61. Thismonstrance-reliquary,

containinga tooth

ofSaint

Mary Magdalene set atop aniron pin and encased in crystal,is crownedby a disk with a

superb example of reverse

painting on glass (verreeglomise). Thefigures in the

Nativity (detail, above), as wellas those in the Crucifixiononthe other side of the disk, wereexecutedby drawingwith a

stylus on the gilded glass sur-

face; the glass was then set ina metal mount and the darker

surface beneathwas revealed

through the drawing. Mon-

strance: Italian (probablyFlo-rence), late Isth century. Disk:Italian (possibly Tuscany), last

quarterof the 14th century.Silvergilt, rockcrystal,verre

eglomise, h. 22 inches. Gift ofJ. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

(17.190.504)



55

62. The devotionaldiptych

tralimages. Among

the saintsabove is also made in verre shown are John the Baptist,eglomise with the central pan- Peter, Paul, Francis, Louis,els showing the Nativity and Elizabeth,and Clare. Italianthe Crucifixion.Around them (Umbria or the Marches), lateare symbols of the evangelists 14th century. Wood, rockcrys-and busts of saints, whose rel- tal, glass, verre eglomise, h. 63/4ics, identifiedby small labels, inches. Gift of J. Pierpontare encased in the small com- Morgan, 1917 (17.190.982)

partments that frame the cen-



56

The author wishes to thank her colleagues in theMedievalDepartmentfor their valuable adviceduringthe preparationof the text for this Bulletin.

SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY

Beckwith,John. TheArt of Constantinople:An Intro-duction to Byzantine Art. 2nd ed. London,1968.

Crosby,SumnerMcKnight,et al. TheRoyal AbbeyofSaint-Denis in the Time of Abbot Suger (1122-

ii51). Exh.cat., MetropolitanMuseum of Art, NewYork,1981.

Eucharistic Vessels of the Middle Ages. Exh. cat.,Busch-ReisingerMuseum, Cambridge,Mass. NewYork, 1977.

Focillon, Henri. The Art of the West in the Middle

Ages. New York,1963.Huizinga, Johan. The Waning of the Middle Ages.

London,1937.

Jungmann,JosefA. The Mass of the Roman Rite: ItsOrigins and Development. New York,1959.Kitzinger, Ernst. Early Medieval Art. Bloomington,

Ind., 1983.Klauser, Theodor. A Short History of the Western

Liturgy. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1979.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Ed.

by F. L. Cross. New York,1974.Taralon,Jean. Treasuresof the Churchesof France.

New York,1966.Weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late An-

tique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh

Century. 2 vols. (exh. cat. and symposium). Met-

ropolitanMuseum of Art, New York, and Prince-ton, N.J., 1978.

Wixom, William D. Treasures rom Medieval France.

Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland,1967.

The Year 1200. 3 vols. (exh. cat., survey, and sym-posium). MetropolitanMuseum of Art, New York,

1970 and 1975.

Biblicalreferences are to the Douay Version.

PHOTOGRAPHCREDITS

Photographyof covers, inside covers, figs. 1-8, 12,13,

15-19, 21, ,2, 26-29, 32-36, 38-40, 45-48, 53, 55,57-62 by Sheldan Collins, PhotographStudio, Met-

ropolitanMuseum. Photographyof fig. 25 by CarmelWilson, PhotographStudio, Metropolitan Museum.

Photographyof other works in the MetropolitanMu-seum by PhotographStudio, MetropolitanMuseum. Back cover: enser (f 6)Photographyof works outside the MetropolitanMu-seum courtesy of the museums and institutions indi- Inside back cover: Altar lampcated in captions. (fig. 29)



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