Tabernacle (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
This hexagonal oak tabernacle, ornately patterned with openwork sides of flamboyant tracery, rosettes, and fleurs-de-lis, likely held an object of devotion, such as a monstrance (a vessel containing the consecrated bread of the Eucharist) or a reliquary (a vessel containing a relic of Christ or one of his saints). Its detailed stylization and delicate tracery embody the architectural ideals of the Gothic age-thin and elaborate walls that suggest the celestial rather than the terrestrial. Such -an effect is only rarely achieved through large-scale architecture. This three-foot-high tabernacle transcends such structural constraints, standing elegantly as a symbol of the heavenly city of Jerusalem and as a house for the specific saint, or evenChrist, held within its walls.
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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