Monstrance with a Relic of Saint Sebastian

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Monstrance with a Relic of Saint Sebastian as metalwork (Germany, Lower Saxony, Brunswick, Gothic period, 15th century · 1484).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

In the Middle Ages, people suffering from diseases might make a journey, or pilgrimage, to venerate relics such as this one. The faithful believed that the remains of saints and holy people like Saint Sebastian could help those seeking aid such as relief from the plague.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this metalwork as gilded silver, rock crystal, bone, parchment.

The museum's collection notes: This Late Gothic monstrance (from the Latin monstrare, "to show") is mentioned in the earliest inventory of Saint Blaise as "a large new monstrance containing relics of Saint Sebastian the martyr." Judging from surviving receipts, the reliquary was made by Werner Korff, a local goldsmith, who received payments for silver and gilding at the end of 1484. The reliquary was first displayed on the altar of the church of Saint Blaise in a solemn penitential mass on June 4, 1484, in an effort to ward off the plague. A recent examination revealed that the relic is a human metatarsal bone (one of five long bones of the human foot) and that its owner s

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtMonstrance with a Relic of Saint Sebastian

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