Design for a Monumental Sacrament House

Lorenz Lechler and Workshop

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Unfurling to nearly eleven feet, this drawing is as monumental as the architectural structure it depicts. The design represents a sacrament house, a soaring architectural structure within a church or cathedral in which the consecrated Communion host was kept. The drawing conveys at a single, sweeping glance the daring of medieval architects, and the intimate interplay of medieval sculpture and its architectural setting. Here, we see where art meets engineering, where sophisticated draftsmanship aligns with architectural ambition. The late-Gothic architect associated with the present design is Lorenz Lechler. He is best known for the Instructions, a document he wrote for his son Moritz, which is one of very few written sources on the practice of Gothic architecture design. He was a celebrated architect in his day. He worked in various cities in present-day Germany, and was even put forth by the city of Esslingen as a candidate to assist in the completion of the Duomo in Milan. At present, this is the only original architectural drawing that can be attributed to Lechler with reasonable certainty. The intended location for this particular sacrament house is unknown, although its monumentality suggests a prestigious commission.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art