The flat, geometric, and abstract style of the designs on this reliquary is similar to ivory carvings and architectural decoration of northern Italy. The openwork patterns of the bone plaques were originally silhouetted against gilded copper foil, creating a play of light and shadow. Traces of green and vermilion paint can still be seen accentuating the interlace borders of the designs. The religious purpose of this box is indicated by the "cross" that divides its face into four fields. Its shape derives from purses, or bursas, made of precious textiles in which saints’ relics were carried.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Bursa Reliquary
Date:10th century
Culture:North Italian
Medium:Bone, paint, copper gilt, iron brads, and sycamore wood
Dimensions:Overall: 7 3/4 x 7 5/16 x 3 1/4in. (19.7 x 18.6 x 8.3cm)
Classification:Ivories-Bone
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1953
Accession Number:53.19.2
Alternating with painted geometric shapes, animal motifs, and openwork interlace and rosettes, the flat bone panels on the reliquary’s exterior recall the shape and delicate surface decoration of pouch reliquaries made from luxury textiles, known as bursas (the Latin word for "purse"). The abstract patterns and stylized, inhabited foliation on this reliquary are closely related to other ivory and bone carvings from northern Italy, including a pair of late tenth-century openwork ivories with evangelist symbols (Cologne, Museum of Applied Arts, inv. no. B 2 a, b).
The bone panels are attached to a wood core; an intermediary layer of gilded copper foil would have heightened the intricacy of the carving, silhouetting the milky sheen of the bone against the reflective surface of the foil. In the treatise On Divers Arts attributed to Theophilus, the author instructs craftspeople on how to achieve similar effects of light and shadow with pierced decoration: "Delicately draw little flowers or animals, or birds, or dragons linked by their necks and tails, pierce the grounds with fine tools and carve with the best and finest workmanship that you can. After doing this, fill the hole inside with a piece of oak covered with gilded copper sheet so that the gold can be seen through all the [pierced] grounds." Further enriching the surface effects of the openwork carving on this reliquary are incised and painted wave and dot borders, which define its architectural contours.
In the Christian tradition, relics are usually human remains (such as bone, hair, or blood), clothing, or other objects closely associated with the body of a saint. Protecting these materials and even shielding them from view, reliquaries also announced the holiness of their contents through their form and decoration. For medieval Christians, both relics and luxury materials were important prompts for spiritual contemplation. Behind the openwork carving on this reliquary, for example, light glinting off gilded copper foil would have reminded Christian viewers of biblical descriptions of heaven, encouraging them to turn their minds away from earthly concerns and instead consider the divine radiance reflected by Jesus and the saints.
This rare and exceptionally fine reliquary was part of the church treasury of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Peter in Salzburg. Founded in 696 A.D., the abbey of Saint Peter in Salzburg is known as the oldest continually-operating monastery in the German-speaking regions of Europe. This reliquary could have arrived at Saint Peter’s through the abbey’s longstanding fraternal connections to monasteries in northern Italy.
Despite this illustrious provenance, its history during the first half of the twentieth century is especially compelling. The reliquary is believed to have been acquired from the abbey sometime in the early 1930s by the wealthy Czech sugar manufacturer and noted art collector, Oscar Bondy. Surviving photographs of Bondy’s Viennese apartment located at Schubertring 3 show this work among other treasures from his collection. Following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria, Bondy fled to Switzerland. He later emigrated to the United States where he lived in New York until his death in 1944. Meanwhile, Nazi officials lost no time in seizing Bondy’s spectacular collection of paintings and decorative objects in July 1938, temporarily housing them at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This reliquary is identified as number 3 in the inventory of works from Bondy’s collection undertaken at that time.
While most works from Bondy’s collection were sent to museums across Austria and some of the most important paintings and sculpture were found by the U.S. Seventh Army in the salt mine at Altausee, this work appears to have remained at the Kunsthistorisches Museum for the duration of the war. Although many works from Bondy’s collection were returned to his widow, Elisabeth Bondy, beginning in 1947, this work was only returned in July 1952 following an acquisition attempt by the post-war Austrian government. The reliquary arrived in New York in January 1953 and the Museum purchased it shortly thereafter. Today, The Met boasts a large number of medieval and later works from Bondy’s celebrated collection, including a mitre (acc. no. 53.19.1), a gilded silver triptych (acc. no. 69.226), and possibly a mother-of-pearl pendant (acc. no. 1989.80), all of which were once housed in the treasury of the medieval abbey.
Further Reading:
C. R. Dodwell, The Various Arts (London, New York: T. Nelson, 1961).
Sophie Lillie, "Oscar Bondy, Zuckerfabrikant," in Was einmal War: Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens (Vienna: Czernin Verlag, 2003), pp. 217-245.
Catalogue Entry by Nicole D. Pulichene, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial and Research Collections Specialist, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, 2020–2022 with contributions on provenance by Christine E. Brennan, Research Scholar and Collections Manager, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters
From the treasury of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Peter, Salzburg, Austria; Oscar Bondy, Vienna (from 1930s–confiscated by Nazi officials in 1938) ; restituted to his widow, Elisabeth Bondy, New York (in 1952–sold 1953)
Schatzkammer der Residenz, Munich, Germany. "Ausstellung kirchliche Kunstschätze aus Bayern," June–September 1930.
Dom-Museum Hildesheim (Cathedral Museum). "Bernward von Hildesheim und das Zeitalter der Ottonen," September 1993–December 1993.
Monastero di Santa Giulia. "Il futuro dei longobardi: l'Italia e la costruzione dell'Europa di Carlo Magno," June 18–November 19, 2000.
Lind, Karl. "Die österreichische kunsthistorische Abteilung der Wiener-Weltausstellung." Mittheilungen der K. K. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Baudenkmale 18 (1873). p. 169, fig. 31.
Westwood, J. O., ed. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Fictile Ivories in the South Kensington Museum, with an Account of the Continental Collection of Classical and Medieval Ivories. London: South Kensington Museum, 1876. p. 469.
Lind, Karl. "Studien über ältere Elfenbein-Arbeiten." Blätter für Kunstgewerbe 7 (1878). pp. 39–40, fig. 9.
Tietze, Hans. Die Denkmale des Benediktinerstiftes St. Peter in Salzburg, edited by Max Dvorák. Osterreichische Kunsttopographie, Vol. 12. Vienna: A. Schroll, 1913. pp. 66–68, fig. 104–6.
Goldschmidt, Adolph. Die Elfenbeinskulpturen aus der Zeit der karolingischen und sächisischen Kaiser, VIII.-XI. Jahrhundert. Vol. 2. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1918. no. 182a–c, pp. 13, 55, pl. LVII–LVIII.
Hartig, Michael, ed. Ausstellung kirchliche Kunstschätze aus Bayern: Katalog: Residenzmuseum München. Munich: Residenzmuseum, 1930. no. 11, p. 12, fig. 4.
Frey, Dagobert, and Karl Ginhart, ed. Die Kunstdenkmäler in Kärnten, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol und Vorarlberg. Georg Dehio: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. Österreich, Vol. 1. Berlin and Vienna: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1933. p. 156.
Illustrated London News. "Primitive Christian Art Shown in Vienna." Illustrated London News 183 (September 30, 1933). p. 515.
Alte und neue katholische Kunst: Führer durch die Ausstellungen Albertina, Diözesanmuseum, Hagenbund, Künstlerhaus, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Österreichisches Museum, Secession, Volkskundemuseum. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 1933. no. 32, p. 64.
Griessmaier, Viktor. "Das romanische Kunstgewerbe in Österreich." In Die bildende Kunst in Österreich: Vorromanische und romanische Zeit (von etwa 600 bis um 1250), edited by Karl Ginhart. Vol. 2. Baden bei Wien: Rudolf M. Rohrer Verlag, 1937. p. 183.
Braun, Joseph. Die Reliquiare des christlichen Kultes und ihre Entwicklung. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 1940. pp. 122–23, 163, pl. 10, fig. 35.
Rorimer, James J. "Acquisitions for the Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 11, no. 10 (June 1953). pp. 272, 277.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eighty-Fourth Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year 1953." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 13, no. 1 (Summer 1954). p. 21.
Fillitz, Hermann. "Die Spätphase des 'langobardischen' Stiles." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, n.s., 18 (1958). pp. 7–16, fig. 1–5, 7, 29.
Philippowich, Eugen von. Elfenbein: ein Handbuch für Sammler und Liebhaber. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1961. p. 48, fig. 34.
Randall Jr., Richard H. "An Eleventh-Century Ivory Pectoral Cross." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 25, nos. 3/4 (July–December 1962). pp. 163–64.
Rorimer, James J. The Cloisters: The Building and the Collection of Medieval Art in Fort Tryon Park. 3rd revised ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1963. pp. 153–55.
Fillitz, Hermann. Das Mittelalter I. Propyläen Kunstgeschichte, Vol. 5. Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1969. no. 82a, p. 158, fig. 82a.
Ostoia, Vera K. The Middle Ages: Treasures from the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969. no. 107, pp. 226–27, 261.
Degen, Kurt H. "Ein frühmittelalterliches Reliquienkästchen aus Oberhessen." Kunst in Hessen und am Mittelrhein 11 (1971). p. 14.
Deuchler, Florens. "The Cloisters: Ein Museum für mittelalterliche Kunst in New York." Du 32, no. 2 (1972). p. 97.
Elbern, Victor. "Ein neuer Beitrag zur Ikonographie des Unfigürlichen: über die bildliche Aussage beinerner Reliquienkästchen des frühen Mittelalters." Das Münster 25, no. 5/6 (1972). p. 321, fig. 10.
Elbern, Victor H. "Das Beinkästchen im Essener Münsterschatz." Aachener Kunstblätter 44 (1973). p. 90, fig. 6.
Elbern, Victor. "Bursenreliquiar." In Lexikon des Mittelalters. Vol. 2. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1982. cols. 1107–1108.
Elbern, Victor. "Scrinium Eburneum Avibus et Animalibus Circumsculptum: ein neues romanisches Reliquienkastchen." Aachener Kunstblätter 50 (1982). p. 164, fig. 13.
Philippowich, Eugen von. Elfenbein: ein Handbuch für Sammler und Liebhaber. Bibliothek für Kunst- und Antiquitätenfreunde, Vol. 17. 2nd ed. Munich: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1982. pp. 56, 59, fig. 36.
Wagner, Franz. "Meisterwerke des Kunstgewerbes und der Plastik in der Erzabtei St. Peter." In St. Peter in Salzburg: Das älteste Kloster im deutschen Sprachraum: 3. Landesausstellung, Schätze Europäischer Kunst und Kultur, edited by Heinz Dopsch, and Roswitha Juffinger. Salzburg: Dommuseums zu Salzburg, 1982. pp. 167–68.
Elbern, Victor. "Bildstruktur, Sinnzeichen, Bildaussage: zusammenfassende Studie zur unfigürlichen Ikonographie im frühen Mittelalter." Arte Medievale 1 (1983). p. 29, fig. 8.
Perrier, Danièle. "Die spanische Kleinkunst des 11. Jahrhunderts: zur Klärung ihrer stilistischen Zusammenhänge im Hinblick auf die Frage ihrer Beziehungen zur Monumentalskulptur." Aachener Kunstblätter 52 (1984). p. 100.
Durliat, Marcel. Des Barbares à l'An Mil. Paris: Editions Mazenod, 1985. p. 477, fig. 576.
Bertelli, Carlo, ed. Milano, una capitale da Ambrogio ai Carolingi: il millenio ambrosiano. Milllennio ambrosiano. Milan: Electa, 1987. pp. 258–75, pl. 307.
Fillitz, Hermann, and Martina Pippal. Schatzkunst: die Goldschmiede- und Elfenbeinarbeiten aus österreichischen Schatzkammern des Hochmittelalters. Salzburg: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1987. no. 4, pp. 70–74, 424, fig. 4.1–4.4, pl. 5.
Fillitz, Hermann. Bernward von Hildesheim und das Zeitalter der Ottonen: Katalog der Ausstellung, Hildesheim, edited by Michael Brandt, and Arne Eggebrecht. Vol. 2. Hildesheim and Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1993. no. V–11, pp. 266–68.
Elbern, Victor. "Bildstruktur, Sinnzeichen, Bildaussage. Zusammenfassende Studie zur unfigürlichen Ikonographie im frühen Mittelalter." In Fructus Operis: Kunstgeschichtliche Aufsätze aus Fünf Jahrzehnten: Zum 80. Geburtstag des Verfassers in Verbindung mit der Görres-Gesellschaft, edited by Piotr Skubiszewski. Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 1998. p. 201, fig. 8.
Elbern, Victor. "Scrinium Eburneum Avibus et Animalibus Circumsculptum: ein neues romanisches Reliquienkastchen." In Fructus Operis: Kunstgeschichtliche Aufsätze aus Fünf Jahrzehnten: Zum 80. Geburtstag des Verfassers in Verbindung mit der Görres-Gesellschaft, edited by Piotr Skubiszewski. Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 1998. pp. 383–4, fig. 13.
Elbern, Victor. "Ein frühmittelalterliches Chrismale in New York." Arte Medievale, n.s., 1, no. 2 (2002). p. 20.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 3, pp. 26, 193.
Galán y Galindo, Ángel. Marfiles Medievales del Islam: Volume 2, Catálogo de Piezas. Cordoba: Publicaciones Obra Social Y Cultural Cajasur, 2005. no. 06014, pp. 110–11, 506.
Galán y Galindo, Ángel. Marfiles Medievales del Islam: Volume 1, Texto. Cordoba: Publicaciones Obra Social Y Cultural Cajasur, 2005. p. 65.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. 75th Anniversary ed. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. p. 24.
Brennan, Christine, and Yelena Rakic. "Fragmented Histories." In Making the Met, 1870-2020, edited by Andrea Bayer. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. p. 180.
Lagane, Cécile. Meubles et ameublements médiévaux en Europe occidentale. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2023. fig. CO_52.
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