Tower Reliquary with Eight Apostles and the Symbols of the Four Evangelists in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2010

Tower Reliquary with Eight Apostles and the Symbols of the Four Evangelists

Date: ca. 1200–1250

Geography: Made in, Cologne, Germany

Culture: German

Medium: Ivory, gilt copper alloy, wood core

Dimensions: Overall: 9 3/16 x 5 1/2 in. (23.3 x 14 cm) base only: 6 1/8 x 5 1/2 in. (15.6 x 14 cm) Lid only: 3 3/8 x 5 1/2 in. (8.6 x 14 cm)

Classification: Ivories-Bone

Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

Accession Number: 17.190.230a, b

Description:

Inscriptions identify eight of Jesus’ apostles: Simon, Philip, Matthew, Andrew, Peter, John, James, and Paul. A large number of relics, often in the form of bone or textile fragments associated with a holy figure, were housed in such containers. In the 1200s, the city of Cologne became the primary center in Germany for the production of bone caskets made in a variety of shapes.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/1700...