- Period
- Gothic
- Date
- c. 1320
- Collection
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object no.
- 1932.422
Reliquary in Purse Form
Unknown maker, c. 1320
Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · Public domain
- Maker
- Unknown maker
- Date
- c. 1320
- Medium
- copper, gilded and engraved; glass; rock crystal; precious stones; wood core
- Dimensions
- Overall: 17.2 x 13.4 x 7.7 cm (6 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 1/16 in.)
- Period
- Gothic
The record
Why it matters
This precious reliquary, adorned on its front and sides with colored glass, precious stones, and two medallions featuring the enthroned Virgin and Child and an eagle, forms part of a group of closely related objects manufactured in the Upper Rhine region shortly after 1300. The purse shape, with its peaked roof and cylindrical top, derives from much earlier Carolingian and Romanesque prototypes. The reliquary was originally suspended from the rings on both sides of the sloping roof.