Browse Items (13 total)

This sixteenth-century manuscript illumination depicts a Polish bishop wearing a chest cross that appears similar to a reliquary pendant. Reliquary pendants were often worn by prominent members of the clergy to indicate their high status and…

Chalices were essential to the eccelsiastical functions of the Catholic church in medieval London because they played a vital role in transubstantiation, or the conversion of the Eucharist and communion wine into the body and blood of Jesus. When…

This is a burial chalice recovered from the tomb of Archbishop William de Melton in York. Dated around the mid fourteenth century, the chalice is made of silver and has an engraving of a crucified Jesus Christ on the base.

This aquamanile possibly hails from Lower Saxony and is made of bronze. Aquamaniles were used in both religious and non-religious settings, though this object's original owner is not specified. The knight seen here is wearing some kind of prick spur…

This gilded reliquary casket, dated to the years immediately following St. Thomas Becket's canonization, display a narrative of Becket's life and martyrdom. Reliquaries often were used to assert the sanctity of the saint they were said to contain, as…

Thirteenth-century French manuscript illumination from a psalter depicting a reliquary procession. Processions like these were often performed in medieval European towns and villages on the feast days of the saints whose relics were contained in the…

A thirteenth-century Scottish reliquary pendant, possibly made to be worn by the Bishop of Galloway. The gold mounted wooden cross was believed to be a relic of the True Cross. The domed rock crystal cover magnifies the size of the cross and pearls…

This illuminated manuscript from the mid-14th century depicts a dove bringing an ampulla to Saint Remigius in order to baptize King Clovis I. The object's association with holiness made it the ideal instrument to convert him to Christianity, the…

This stained glass window depicts the miracle of William Fitz-Eisulf, a boy who was healed by the water of St. Thomas of Canterbury. The ampulla is being used to administer the cure. The centrality of the ampulla is perhaps why the object appears to…

This specific medieval chalice was found in London Wall. The chalice dates to the late fifteenth century. The map is of London in 1520, and the red outline marks the London Wall, where the chalice was excavated.