The Shrine of the Three Kings, Tomb of the Three Kings, or Tomb of the Three Magi is a reliquary traditionally believed to contain the bones of the Biblical Magi, also known as the Three Kings or the Three Wise Men. The shrine is a large gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus placed above and behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedral in western Germany. Built approximately from 1180 to 1225, it is considered the high point of Mosan art and the largest reliquary in the Western world.
Roger of Helmarshausen was a well-known goldsmith and metalwork artist, and also a Benedictine monk.
A reliquary is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a fereter, and a chapel in which it is housed a feretory.
Ottonian art is a style in pre-romanesque German art, covering also some works from the Low Countries, northern Italy and eastern France. It was named by the art historian Hubert Janitschek after the Ottonian dynasty which ruled Germany and Northern Italy between 919 and 1024 under the kings Henry I, Otto I, Otto II, Otto III and Henry II. With Ottonian architecture, it is a key component of the Ottonian Renaissance. However, the style neither began nor ended to neatly coincide with the rule of the dynasty. It emerged some decades into their rule and persisted past the Ottonian emperors into the reigns of the early Salian dynasty, which lacks an artistic "style label" of its own. In the traditional scheme of art history, Ottonian art follows Carolingian art and precedes Romanesque art, though the transitions at both ends of the period are gradual rather than sudden. Like the former and unlike the latter, it was very largely a style restricted to a few of the small cities of the period, and important monasteries, as well as the court circles of the emperor and his leading vassals.
Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although in a broader sense the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling and manuscript illumination reaching a high level of development during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
Nicholas of Verdun was a renowned metalworker, goldsmith and enamellist active around the years 1180–1205. He was born in the city of Verdun, Upper Lorraine. The region extending from the valley of the Rhine and Meuse rivers to Cologne was the major northern center of copperplate enameled metalwork in the 12th century and Nicholas was probably trained in one of the many Mosan workshops. Although he must have maintained a large atelier of his own with numerous assistants, possibly based in Verdun, commissions in Cologne, northern France and outside Vienna required him to travel frequently.
The Basilica of Saint Servatius is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Servatius, in the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands. The architecturally hybrid but mainly Romanesque church is situated next to the Gothic church of Saint John, backing onto the town's main square, Vrijthof.
The High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier, or Trier Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest church in Germany and the largest religious structure in Trier, notable for its long life span and grand design. The central part of the nave was built of Roman brick in the early fourth century, resulting in a cathedral that was added onto gradually in different eras. The imposing Romanesque westwork, with four towers and an additional apse, has been copied repeatedly. The Trier Cathedral Treasury contains an important collection of Christian art. In 1986 the church was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier.
Saint Aprunculus of Trier was Bishop of Trier from the death of his predecessor, Fibicius, around 525, He served in that capacity until his own death in 526, and was succeeded by Nicetius.
Egbert was the Archbishop of Trier from 977 until his death.
The Becket Casket is a reliquary in Limoges enamel now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is made of gilt-copper round a wooden core, decorated with champlevé enamel, and of a shape called a "chasse". It was made in about 1180–90 in Limoges, France, and depicts one of the most infamous events in English history. On the night of 29 December 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury cathedral by four knights obeying the wishes of King Henry II. It provoked outrage throughout Europe, and pilgrims flocked to Canterbury to pray at the site of the murder. In 1173 Becket was canonized and his shrine was one of the most famous in the Christian world, until its total destruction in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII. It is thought that this particular casket was made to hold the relics of Thomas Becket that were taken to Peterborough Abbey by Abbot Benedict in 1177. Benedict had been Prior at Canterbury Cathedral and therefore saw Becket's assassination.
Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal objects decorated in enamel using the champlevé technique, of which most of the survivals, and probably most of the original production, are religious objects such as reliquaries.
The Basilica of Our Lady is a Romanesque church in the historic center of Maastricht, Netherlands. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Diocese of Roermond. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea.
A chasse, châsse or box reliquary is a shape commonly used in medieval metalwork for reliquaries and other containers. To the modern eye the form resembles a house, though a tomb or church was more the intention, with an oblong base, straight sides and two sloping top faces meeting at a central ridge, often marked by a raised strip and decoration. From the sides there are therefore triangular "gable" areas.
The Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius is a museum of religious art and artifacts inside the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, Netherlands.
The Aachen Cathedral Treasury is a museum of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen under the control of the cathedral chapter, which houses one of the most important collections of medieval church artworks in Europe. In 1978, the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, along with Aachen Cathedral, was the first monument on German soil to be entered in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The treasury contains works from Late Antique, Carolingian, Ottonian, Staufen, and Gothic times. The exhibits are displayed in premises connected to the cathedral cloisters.
The Cross with large enamels, or Senkschmelz Cross, known in German as the Senkschmelzen-Kreuz or the Kreuz mit den großen Senkschmelzen, is a processional cross in the Essen Cathedral Treasury which was created under Mathilde, Abbess of Essen. The name refers to its principal decorations, five unusually large enamel plaques made using the senkschmelz technique, a form of cloisonné which looks forward to champlevé enamel, with a recessed area in enamel surrounded by a plain gold background, and distinguishes it from three other crosses of the crux gemmata type at Essen. The cross is considered one of the masterpieces of Ottonian goldsmithing.
A church treasury or church treasure is the collection of historical art treasures belonging to a church, usually a cathedral or monastery. Such "treasure" is usually held and displayed in the church's treasury or in a diocesan museum. Historically the highlight of church treasures was often a collection of reliquaries.
The Trier Adventus Ivory or the Translation of Relics Ivory is an artwork in the Trier Cathedral Treasury in Trier, Germany. The 4th-century relief is a piece of ivory carving from the Byzantine Empire. It was acquired by the Cathedral of Trier in 1844. The work is considered to be an "enigma of Early Byzantine art" and scholars have debated over the ivory's date of manufacture, its original location, and who is depicted. The panel is relatively intact aside from minimal damage to the top right and bottom left corners and some figures having lost their heads.
An Insular crozier is a type of processional bishop's staff (crozier) produced in Ireland and Scotland between 800 and 1200. Such items can be distinguished from mainland European types by their curved and open crooks, and drop. By the end of the 12th century, production of Irish croziers had largely ended, but examples continued to be reworked and added to throughout the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Although many of the croziers are associated with 5th- and 6th-century saints, the objects were not made until long after the saints had died. A majority originate from around the 9th century, and were often used as embellishment between the 11th and 13th centuries.
