Tri-Lobed Arch from a Reliquary Shrine

Tri-Lobed Arch from a Reliquary Shrine

Nicholas of Verdun and Cologne Followers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A massive, golden shrine in Cologne Cathedral contains relics believed to be of the biblical Three Kings who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus. The relics were acquired in Milan in 1164, and the goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun was commissioned to create one of the most ambitious reliquaries in Europe. This tiny arch, which comes from this important shrine, was removed during nineteenth-century restorations.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tri-Lobed Arch from a Reliquary ShrineTri-Lobed Arch from a Reliquary ShrineTri-Lobed Arch from a Reliquary ShrineTri-Lobed Arch from a Reliquary ShrineTri-Lobed Arch 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.