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Chasse with the Crucifixion and Christ in Majesty

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Reliquary

Reliquary

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Chasse with the Crucifixion and Christ in Majesty

Date:
ca. 1180–90
Geography:
Made in Limoges, France
Culture:
French
Medium:
Copper: engraved, chiseled, stippled, and gilt; champlevé enamel: dark, medium, and light blue; turquoise, dark and light green, yellow, red, and white; wood core, painted red on exterior
Dimensions:
Overall: 10 5/16 x 11 7/8 x 4 9/16 in. (26.2 x 30.2 x 11.6 cm)
Classification:
Enamels
Credit Line:
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:
17.190.514

This artwork is not on display

  • Description

    The rectangular, boxlike shape of the medieval chasse is an adaptation of the sarcophagus shape, ultimately deriving from the Early Christian tradition of honoring saints at their burial sites. The word "chasse" is derived from the Latin "capsa" (coffin), and it has come to refer to an enclosed shrine with a pyramid-shaped roof. Such reliquaries were often placed on altars, where the devout could venerate the relic held inside. In keeping with twelfth-century tradition, this chasse, which once served as a portable container for the relics of revered saints, is decorated with gables and finials to echo the shape of a church. In the view shown here, the Crucifixion is represented flanked by images of the sun and moon, with rows of the apostles standing beneath a series of arcades. The richness of the decoration is enhanced by the background scroll-like patterns called "vermiculé." Their name literally adopted from a Latin term suggestive of worm shapes or movement, these twisting, incised lines provide a foil for the figures, whose massive feet and hands stand in stark contrast to their tiny copper-gilt heads. The reverse of the chasse has an overall pattern of quatrefoils enclosed in circles, a motif frequently found on vermiculé chasses.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Inscription: Inscribed: (on the cross): IH[ESU]S / XPS (Christus).

  • Provenance

    William Beckford, Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, England (until 1823); Countess Anne of Newburgh(died 1861); Fonthill Abbey sale, Phillips, Fonthill (September 9–October 27, 1823, Day 30, no. 1263); Hon. Robert Curzon, M.P.(died 1863); Robert Curzon(1863-73), Parham, Sussex, England; Robert Nathaniel Curzon, 15th Baron Zouche(1873-1911); Georges Hoentschel (French, Paris 1855–1915)(by 1911); Jacques SeligmannParis and New York (in January 1912); J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York (1912-17)

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    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
170004367

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