Reliquary Shrine with Scenes from the Life of Christ

Description On the front of this unusually large shrine are scenes from the Life of Christ: (top) the Presentation in the Temple; the Adoration of the Magi; the Flight into Egypt; (bottom) the Carrying of the Cross; the Crucifixion; and the Holy Women at the Tomb. On the short sides, an enthroned Christ in Majesty adorns the door of the shrine and the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary is shown on the short side opposite. On the back, Christ and the Virgin stand with the apostles and St. Martial, the patron saint of Limoges. St. Martial stands in the position of favor on the right side of Christ. The shrine comes from the town of Billom (Puy-de-Dôme), near Limoges

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
	Examination	technical analysis
3/18/1964	Treatment	cleaned
3/18/1964	Treatment	cleaned; coated; repaired
12/03/1984	Treatment	cleaned
1/10/1995	Treatment	condition
6/01/1995	Examination	condition
12/01/2007	Examination	examined for exhibition

Exhibitions

• Red Cross Exhibition, Seligmann Galleries, Paris. Seligmann, Paris. 0.
• Exposition rétrospective de l'art français au Trocadéro. Paris. 1889.
• Exposition d’objets d’art du moyen âge et de la Renaissance. ancien Hôtel du Sagan, Paris. 1913.
• An Exhibition of the Treasures of The Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton; Pace Wildenstein Gallery, New York. 1967.
• Memory and the Middle Ages. McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Chestnut Hill. 1995.
• Realms of Faith: Medieval and Byzantine Art from the Walters Art Museum. Museum of Biblical Art, New York; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha. 2008-2009.
• Treasures of Heaven. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The British Museum, London. 2010-2011.

Provenance Collège de Jésuites, Billom, France, before 1789; Municipality of Billom Sale, Hôtel des Ventes, Paris, March 26, 1886; Charles Mannheim (1833-1910), Paris, March 26, 1886; Comte Gaston Chandon de Briailles (1852-1914), Beaune, Côte d'Or, before 1900; Hector Economos, Paris, before 1913; Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1922, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions On the broad side of the reliquary featuring scenes from the Life of Christ and the Virgin, a titulus depicted above Christ Crucified in red enamel letters reads: I H S; [Transcription] IH[ESU]S; [Translation] Jesus. On the broad side of the reliquary featuring Christ and the Virgin with apostles and saints, on the upper panel, a band in reserve at the shoulder-level of Christ, the apostles and saints reads in red enamel letters: MA/TEUS: SI/MON:MA/RCIAL'/BARN/ABA:PHI/LIP':BA/RTOLOMS'; [Transcription] MAT[TH]EUS SIMON MARCIAL[IS] BARNABA[S] PHILIP[US] BART[H]OLOM[EU]S; [Translation] Matthew, Simon, Martial, Barnabas, Philip, Bartholomew. On the broad side of the reliquary featuring Christ and the Virgin with apostles and saints, on the lower panel, a band in reserve on shoulder-level with the Virgin, the apostles and saints reads in red enamel letters: MATI/AS:SIOAN/NES:SPA/UL'/SPE/TRUSAN/DREAS:IA/COB'; [Transcription] MATIAS S[ANCTUS] IOANNES S[ANCTUS] PAUL[US] S[ANCTUS] PETRUS ANDREAS IACOB[US]; [Translation] Matthias, St. John, St. Paul, St. Peter, Andrew, James. On the narrow side depicting the Annunciation, a band in reserve between the heads of the Virgin and Archangel Gabriel reads in red letters: AVEM/ARIA; [Transcription] AVE MARIA; [Translation] Hail Mary.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1922