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

ca. 1200–1250
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 304
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tower Reliquary with Eight Apostles and the Symbols of the Four Evangelists
  • Date: ca. 1200–1250
  • Geography: Made in Cologne, Germany
  • Culture: German
  • Medium: Bone, 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
  • Object Number: 17.190.230a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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