Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath

Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The engraved Latin inscription on the back identifies the subject: “Bishop Reginald of Bath hands this over to Queen Margaret of Sicily.” The inscription on the front lists the relics once contained under a crystal: “Of the blood of Saint Thomas martyr. Of his vestments stained with his blood: of the cloak, the belt, the hood, the shoe, the shirt.” The bishop probably presented this pendant to the queen on the occasion of her son’s marriage in 1177 to the daughter of Henry II. The king had instigated the murder of his former friend and chancellor, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, on December 29, 1170.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of BathReliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of BathReliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of BathReliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of BathReliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath

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.