Reliquary Bust of Saint Juliana

Reliquary Bust of Saint Juliana

Giovanni di Bartolo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1376, the skull of Saint Juliana, the gift of the brothers of San Domenico to the Perugian convent dedicated to the saint, was carried in procession and received by Abbess Gabriella. This beguiling image cradled the relic and was placed in an elaborate tabernacle, where it remained until its sale in the late nineteenth century. The band along the lower edge of the bust is inscribed, on the front: [C]APUD SANTE IULIANE [head of Saint Juliana] and, on the back: ROMA. A. D[OMINO]. GUILLE[LMO] [Rome, year of Our Lord, William]. The engraving is not very accomplished, and the mention of a "William," arguably a patron, remains unexplained.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.