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paten: Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim; monstrance: Germany, Lower Saxony, Brunswick, Gothic perio / c. 1180–1190

Monstrance with the "Paten of Saint Bernward"

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Monstrance with the "Paten of Saint Bernward" as metalwork (paten: Germany, Lower Saxony, Hildesheim; monstrance: Germany, Lower Saxony, Brunswick, Gothic perio · c. 1180–1190).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

Designed to facilitate the display and veneration of ten relics, this sumptuous ostensorium (from the Latin ostendere, meaning "to show") is one of the most unusual reliquaries in the Guelph Treasure. Elements of contemporary Gothic architecture in miniature frame an elaborately decorated liturgical paten, the shallow

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this metalwork as silver, gilded silver, niello, rock crystal and credits Saint Oswald Reliquary Workshop (German).

The museum's collection notes: Designed to facilitate the display and veneration of ten relics, this sumptuous ostensorium (from the Latin ostendere, meaning "to show") is one of the most unusual reliquaries in the Guelph Treasure. Elements of contemporary Gothic architecture in miniature frame an elaborately decorated liturgical paten, the shallow disc or plate used for the elevation of the Eucharist during Mass. Fragments of the True Cross are enclosed behind a rock crystal in the gable, while other saintly relics, each wrapped in silk and identified by inscriptions, are visible only from the back. The paten is inscribed on its outer rim with the words "The bread which i

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtMonstrance with the "Paten of Saint Bernward"

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