Plaque from a Reliquary Shrine

Plaque from a Reliquary Shrine

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Among the most splendid objects in the great churches of Cologne are large architectural shrines containing relics associated with local saints. These ambitious goldsmiths’ works are among the greatest artistic achievements of their time. Refined decorative fragments like the small rectangular plaques shown here are often all that remain of these monumental objects, as many were dismantled or even destroyed following the secularization of church property in this region in the first decade of the nineteenth century. During later efforts to restore shrines, some fragments were replaced and the originals sold to collectors and museums.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plaque from a Reliquary ShrinePlaque from a Reliquary ShrinePlaque from a Reliquary ShrinePlaque from a Reliquary ShrinePlaque from a Reliquary Shrine

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.