A Unique Gift of Medieval Art
And its mysterious story
By Miguel Bermudez
This ornate Holy Thorn Reliquary (1390-97) features expertly worked gold and numerous precious stones.
It depicts a complicated and theatrical scene that nearly hides the central object of worship (the thorn), as well as a prominent seal of Jean duc de Berry, the brother of Charles V who commissioned the piece.
©Trustees of the British Museum
A most treasured possession of Jean, Duc de Berry
(1340 -1416), namely a Reliquary containing a Thorn believed to have come from Christ’s Crown of Thorns became a fascinating story of a skilled reproduction.
The Reliquary was commissioned by a very learned and art-loving French noble who treasured and surrounded himself with the best that medieval artisans could create. Jean, Duc de Berry, is also known for his commission of the Très Riches Heures., a magnificent illuminated manuscript that survives at the Musee Conde in France.
The Reliquary, which is made of gold and adorned with enamel and precious stones contains a thorn under a rock crystal window. The story of the thorn in and of itself is fascinating and it had a long journey before being placed inside the reliquary. A Crown of Thorns was already mentioned and venerated in Jerusalem by the fifth century, the first written account which appeared to be St. Paulinus of Nola a little after 409. Many centuries later the Crown was found in Byzantium (about 1063). Thorns were being given as important gifts prior to the Crown’s arrival in Byzantium. One was sent to St. Germain, Bishop of Paris, perhaps as early as the sixth century. Empress Irene sent several thorns to Charlemagne in 798 or 802. (1)
The Crown with the remaining thorns was pawned by Emperor Baldwin II with the Venetians as a security deposit for an immense loan. This is when Louis IX, King of France was offered the Crown by the Emperor. The king paid the loan and the Crown found its way to France, where the splendid Saint Chapelle was built to house it. The thorns were removed and placed in a reliquary. Some sixty or seventy thorns are believed to have been taken from the crown. (2)
Subsequently, Jean, Duc de Berry received several thorns from Charles V and VI of France, his brother, and nephews. One of these thorns is the one contained in this spectacular reliquary. The British Museum describes the Reliquary in detail as follows:
“Reliquary of gold, richly enameled and set with rubies, pearls, and sapphires. Architectural base in the form of a castellated fortress with a half-length angel sounding a trumpet occupying each turret, the base also with arms of Jean, Duc de Berry in rectangular panels of blue and red translucent enamel.
The Holy Thorn Reliquary (1390-97) ©Trustees of the British Museum. Art Market Magazine
The Holy Thorn Reliquary (1390-97) ©Trustees of the British Museum. Art Market Magazine
The front is a depiction of the Resurrection of the Dead, a green-enameled mound rising from the base from which coffins protrude, the dead rising from within. Above is a rock-crystal window, the thorn placed vertically in the center, mounted on a cabochon sapphire, above an inscribed scroll. Figures of the Virgin and St. John kneel beside the thorn, Christ with his five wounds is seated behind it, his feet resting on a white-enameled globe. Two angels hold a crown of thorns above his head, the instruments of the Passion in their other hands. An arch is formed around the whole by the twelve Apostles within a mass of leaves and branches, God the Father at the top. On the reverse are two hinged doors decorated in relief and pontillé with the figures of St. Michael and the Devil and St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child, inside there is an empty cavity covered in modern glass, probably a space for another relic. Above this is a rounder with the face of Christ in relief amidst sunrays. Marked.” (3)
The piece was made in France in the late 14th century to early 15th century. It measures:
• Height: 30.5 centimeters
• Width: 15 centimeters (max)
• Width: 13 centimeters
(across base)
• Depth: 7 centimeters
• Weight: 1404.65 grams
The Holy Thorn Reliquary (1390-97) ©Trustees of the British Museum. Art Market Magazine
Jean de Berry was a very curious and learned collector of art. This reliquary was housed at his Saint Chapelle along with many religious relics such as the marriage ring of the Virgin, a cup used at the Wedding at Cana, a fragment of the Burning Bush and a complete body of one of the Holy Innocents, the children murdered by Herod.
He was an enthusiastic builder of castles, something that is reflected at the base of the Holy Reliquary where a castle is made out of gold. (4)
It is assumed that Jean de Berry gave this reliquary as a highly important gift to someone prior to his death. All other goldsmith pieces appear to have been melted down following the occupation of Paris by the English after the battle of Agincourt in 1415. By 1544 the Reliquary was part of the Imperial Habsburg collection in Vienna where it remained until the late 19th century. Here is where the story of what is considered a “supreme achievement of medieval European metalwork” becomes fascinating for collectors, curators, and art scholars. The piece was exhibited in Vienna in 1860 as part of the Medieval and Renaissance works of art collection. Shortly after this exhibition, the reliquary was sent to be repaired or to be cleaned by the workshop of a Mr. Salomon Weininger in Vienna. The talented Mr. Weininger proceeded to make a copy of the reliquary. He copied other important pieces in the collection as well. He returned the copy to the Museum and sold the original which found its way to Baron Anselm von Rothschild between
1872 – 1874. (3)
There were, therefore, two almost identical Holy Reliquaries, one in Vienna and one with the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor in England. It took almost a century after the exchange to figure out conclusively that the piece in Vienna was a copy and the original was now in the possession of the British Museum, as it became part of the collection after the bequeath of the Waddesdon collection of Renaissance and Baroque art to the museum.
The Holy Thorn Reliquary (1390-97) ©Trustees of the British Museum. Art Market Magazine
The Holy Thorn Reliquary is a work of both ornate beauty and sublime significance. The grandeur and intricacy of the late-medieval French goldsmith’s craft are harnessed for the reverence of a single buckthorn – believed by many to be from the Crown of Thorns placed on the head of Jesus before the crucifixion.” (5)
One theologian described it as
“a window into another world.”. (5)
A guide to an exhibit at the British Museum titled “Meeting the Gods (1200-1400 AD) described in a profound way what this incredible piece signifies:
“You never get to the end of the Holy Thorn Reliquary. It’s a theatre for the cosmic drama of salvation. It’s a sermon on high medieval theology. And you could almost say it’s a single-object museum, even if an incomparably lavish one. There’s one exhibit, mounted on sapphire, displayed behind rock crystal, and labeled on enamel. But its purpose is the same as any museums- to provide a worthy setting for a great thing. We can’t, of course, know how visitors approach the objects on display in the British Museum, but many visitors surely still use the Holy Thorn Reliquary for its original devotional purpose of contemplation and prayer.” (4)
“Certainly, the veneration of the Crown of Thorns remains very much alive. It was Napoleon who decided that it should be housed permanently in Notre Dame, and there, on the first Friday of every month, the whole Crown of Thorns, from which our one thorn was taken over six hundred years ago, is still shown to crowds of faithful worshippers.” (4)
Thus, we have a fascinating object of great historical importance that survived through many centuries, mostly intact, then to be skillfully reproduced in the 19th century. Interestingly enough, the forger was apprehended and spent years in prison for his actions. This did not prompt the Museum in Austria to either make a serious attempt to locate the original nor did they fully disclosed their suspicion of exhibiting a wonderful copy. This example of two unique and almost identical objects adds to the enrichment of the piece and we hope encourages and awakens curiosity for its history, its trajectory, and the admiration and veneration that this Holy Reliquary has attracted through history.
Meb3
SOURCES:
(1) Itinera Hierosolymitana, Geyer. 154 and 174.
(2) Exuviae Constantinopolitanae (Paris, 1904). M. De Mely.
(3) The British Museum Collection Notes.
(4) A History of the World in 100 Objects. A joint program of the BBC and the British Museum.
(5) The Holy Thorn Reliquary, One of the Greatest Relics of Medieval Christianity. Sotheby’s Museum Network. September 21, 2018
(6) A Sleek Home at British Museum for Ferdinand’s Gift. The New York Times. July 22, 2015. Roderick Conway Morris.
(7) Past Presents: New Year’s Gifts at the Valois Court, ca.1400”. Brigitte Buettner. Art Bulletin, 83 (2001), 598-625.
(8) “France: Kissing the original Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus | Minor Sights”.
www.minorsights.com.
Retrieved 2016-08-05.
(9) Cherry, John, The Holy Thorn Reliquary, The British Museum Press, 2010, ISBN 9780714128207
All images are ©Trustees of the British Museum and reproduced with their kind permission.
