The Treasury of Basel Cathedral

by Timothy B. Husband; With contributions by Julien Chapius

• ISBN13: 9780300088496
• ISBN10: 0300088493
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2001-03-11
• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Summary

The medieval Treasury of the Basel Minster miraculously survived earthquakes, wars, icon oclasm, and the Reformation, only to be dispersed in the early nineteenth century. More than half of its holdings are now in the Historisches Museum Basel, while the remainder are in museum collections all over the world. This book presents more than seventy-five of these splendid ecclesiastical and secular objects from the Basel Minster, dating from the early eleventh through the early sixteenth century, spanning the Early Romanesque period to the Reformation.

Most of the works are of gold and silver -- many encrusted with precious stones, antique gems, or translucent enamels -- but there are also textiles and objects of hardstone, rock crystal, bronze, and wood, including the doors of the original storage cupboards. All are reproduced in full color and fully discussed.

The four essays in the volume focus on the history of medieval Basel and on the function of cathedral treasuries, with particular emphasis on the Basel Treasury and its contents.

Table of Contents

Director's Foreword	ix
Lenders to the Exhibition	x
Acknowledgments	xi
Note to the Reader	xiv
A Brief History of Basel Up to the Reformation	3	(4)
Julien Chapuis
The Construction of Basel Cathedral: An Overview	7	(4)
Timothy Husband
A Treasury in Basel	11	(14)
Julien Chapuis
Dormant Then Divided, Dispersed and Reunited	25	(10)
Timothy Husband
Catalogue	35	(140)
Timothy Husband
Introduction Numbers i-viii, 1	36	(9)
Ottonian and Romanesque Treasury Numbers 2-10	45	(12)
Liturgical Objects Numbers 11-20, ix-xiv	57	(20)
Procession and Ceremony Numbers 21-29, xv	77	(11)
Reliquaries: Caskets and Crosses Numbers 30-34	88	(12)
Figural Reliquaries Numbers 35-38	100	(8)
Reliquaries in Imitation of the Human Form Numbers 39-44	108	(12)
Relics Sacred and Profane Numbers 45-50, xvi-xvii	120	(8)
Gifts to the Saints Numbers 51-54, xviii	128	(4)
Gifts to the Treasury Numbers 55-57	132	(6)
Treasures Lost and Found, Reproduced and Reinvented Numbers 58-63, xix-xx	138	(14)
Monstrances Numbers xxi, 64-66	152	(10)
Private Reliquaries Numbers 67-71	162	(4)
Tower Monstrances Numbers 72-78	166	(9)
Selected Bibliography	175	(3)
Index	178