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An elaborate vertical altar piece with a pointy top, seated on a clover-shaped base. 　

The top of this silver object looks like it could be the spire of a gothic church, with its small slender windows under arch-shapes all around, and textures that look like roof tiles. The center area is open with a crescent shape in the middle pointing up, presumably to hold up a flat circular piece of altar wafer. The stem features a horizontally bulbous section near the middle with diamond-shaped accents around it. The sturdy base is shaped like six rounded flower petals in a circle.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BR62.85
People
Unidentified Artist
Title
Monstrance
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
15th century
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/222918

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2340, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Silver Cabinet: Art and Ritual, 1600–1850
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver, gold-plated copper and enamel
Dimensions
67.5 cm (26 9/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Association Fund
Accession Year
1962
Object Number
BR62.85
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Eucharistic Vessels of the Middle Ages, exh. cat., Busch-Reisinger Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), no. 21, pp. 105-106; repr. p. 129

Exhibition History

  • Medieval Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Jewett Arts Center, Wellesley, 11/21/1970 - 02/07/1971
  • 32Q: 2340 Cabinet Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/24/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/25/2019 - 12/31/2024

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu