Reliquary Arm of St. Valentine

Reliquary Arm of St. Valentine

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Displayed on the high altar of Basel Cathedral on important feast days, this reliquary, like others of its classic type, was also used in public processions and for veneration. Such reliquaries not only evoke the memory and presence of a particular person but also communicate the broader idea of a saint's power and grace, embodied in the blessing gesture of the hand.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reliquary Arm of St. ValentineReliquary Arm of St. ValentineReliquary Arm of St. ValentineReliquary Arm of St. ValentineReliquary Arm of St. Valentine

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.