Reliquary

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The cult of relics was an integral part of Catholic devotion from early in the Christian era. Relics of the Passion of Christ (the events leading up to the Crucifixion), as well as those associated with numerous saints and martyrs, were prized by churches and pious individuals throughout western Europe and Byzantium. Believers in the miraculous power of relics promoted a sumptuous form of artwork by commissioning resplendent cases to surround the often miniscule fragments. Sometimes the framework would echo the source of the relic (an arm, a foot, a head). In other instances, relics were preserved in containers of more traditional form. Jewels containing relics served as gestures of piety as well as displays of personal wealth. Such devotional ornaments became especially popular in early-seventeenth-century Spain, where sumptuary laws restricted most nonreligious personal adornment. Many of the most elaborate works produced by goldsmiths and jewelers were rosaries, crucifixes, and other Catholic emblems, which enabled their wearers to evade royal prohibitions. Extraordinary jewels were also donated to churches for the embellishment of revered devotional images.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art