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~ An exploration of saints, their relics, and their iconography in art

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Tag Archives: Saints Cosmas and Damian

Saint Bernward of Hildesheim: Medieval Patron of the Arts

21 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Reliquarian in "Speaking" Reliquary, Metal Reliquary

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Charlemagne, Croatia, Germany, Hildesheim, Holy Cross, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, relic, reliquary, Saint Bernward, Saint Cuthbert, Saint Oswald, Saint Valentine, Saints Cosmas and Damian, speaking reliquary, Venerable Bede, Zadar

Baptismal Font Hildesheim Cathedral

Baptismal Font (detail), copper alloy (c. 1226), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Saint Bernward of Hildesheim

During the Middle Ages, few individuals did more to support and develop the arts than Saint Bernward of Hildesheim. Considered one the era’s greatest patrons of the arts,1 Saint Bernward’s legacy included the commissioning of Hildesheim Cathedral’s monumental bronze doors2 and the construction of the abbey church of Saint Michael in Hildesheim.3 At a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a number of objects commissioned by Saint Bernward, as well as other important objects from the treasury of Hildesheim Cathedral, were on display. The exhibition included several reliquaries, including a skillfully fashioned reliquary containing the skull of Saint Oswald and an arm reliquary that once held relics of Saint Bernward himself.

Saint Bernward was born to a noble Saxon family and served as the tutor of the future emperor Otto III before his appointment as Bishop of Hildesheim in 993. Hildesheim is one of the oldest cities in northern Germany, and the bishopric of Hildesheim was established by Louis the Pious, Charlemagne’s heir and successor, in 815.4 During the Middle Ages, Hildesheim was renowned for its metalworking, and many of Saint Bernward’s commissions would not have been possible if not for the extraordinary skill of the region’s metalsmiths. As noted in Medieval Treasures from Hildesheim, the proximity of nearby mines, which provided easy access to raw materials, “gave rise to a tradition of metalworking expertise that reached its peak during Bernward’s era.”5

The Golden Madonna (Virgin and Child Enthroned)

Golden Madonna

Golden Madonna, gold over linden wood, (c. 1022), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Neither Bernward’s Doors from Hildesheim Cathedral nor Bernward’s Column, an imposing bronze column circa 1015 representing “the first triumphal column since antiquity,” were on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but the exhibition did include other impressive examples of the metalworkers’ art. The Golden Madonna, which dates to before 1022, has been attributed to Saint Bernward’s patronage.6 Sheathed in gold over a linden wood core, the depiction of the Virgin and Child enthroned is one of the oldest sculptures in the round from the Latin West.7

Reliquary of the Holy Cross

Cross Reliquary

Cross Reliquary, gilded silver, rock crystal, and semiprecious stones, Hildesheim, Germany (c. 1180-1190), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

A reliquary cross containing relics of the Holy Cross was also on display. According to legend, Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria obtained the relics from the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On his safe return to Saxony in 1173, Henry allegedly donated the relics to the Church of the Holy Cross in Hildesheim, although no records supporting this story appear to exist.8 Nevertheless, the reliquary cross’s opulent gilding and intricately hammered ornamentation, as well as its impressive array of colored gems and rock crystal, attest to the significance of the darkened slivers of wood nestled at the center of the cross.

The Ringelheim Crucifix and Hidden Relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian

Ringelheim Crucifix

Ringelheim Crucifix, linden wood and oak (c. 1000).  Photo by Reliquarian.

In addition to the Golden Madonna, Saint Bernward commissioned other large sculptures during his reign as bishop, including a striking wooden crucifix known as the Ringelheim Crucifix. Carved from linden wood and oak, the crucifix stands at over five feet tall and represents one of the most significant monumental wooden sculptures from the Ottonian period in existence today.9 Though carved as an object of devotion, conservation work conducted in the mid-20th century revealed that the crucifix also served as an inconspicuous reliquary. Concealed in a small cavity in Christ’s head, conservators discovered several relics, including two stones from the Holy Sepulcher and two bone fragments, wrapped in silk, of the twin saints Cosmas and Damian.10

Reliquary of Saint Oswald and the Story of His Skull

Reliquary of Saint Oswald

Reliquary of Saint Oswald, gold, silver, pearls, and gemstones over wood core (c. 1185-1189), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

A more traditional reliquary, the Reliquary of Saint Oswald, was also on display at the exhibition. Richly crafted from gold and silver and embellished with niello, cloisonné, pearls, gemstones, and recycled Roman cameos and intaglios, the reliquary is regarded as a masterpiece of medieval goldsmithing.11 The reliquary’s most obvious and most striking feature is undoubtedly the gold bust of Saint Oswald placed atop the reliquary’s octagonal base. The saint’s eyes, finished in niello, were eerie and arresting, their blackened pupils eternally transfixed on the middle distance. Meanwhile, the saint’s crown seemed remarkable for its odd fit. I later learned that the crown and its decoration were cobbled together from earlier components, including a Roman cameo prominently displayed at the crown’s center.12 Apparently, sovereigns occasionally donated their own crowns to churches for reuse on bust reliquaries, although whether this happened to be the case with the Reliquary of Saint Oswald is unclear.13

Reliquary of Saint Oswald 2The Reliquary of Saint Oswald was designed to carry the skull of Saint Oswald, and the relic is evidently still enclosed within the reliquary, wrapped in silk. Saint Oswald was a King of Northumbria who lived in the early 7th century.14 According to the Venerable Bede, Saint Oswald was killed in battle by the pagan king of the Mercians at a place called Maserfield in 642.15 The Venerable Bede observes that the extent of Saint Oswald’s faith and devotion were made evident by the miracles that occurred at the spot where he died in battle.16 “[I]nfirm men and cattle are healed to this day,” he reports, and as a consequence, “many took up the very dust of the place where his body fell, and putting it into water, did much good with it to their friends who were sick.”17 In their enthusiasm for this holy dust, the people eventually carried away so much dirt that “there remained a hole as deep as the height of a man.”18

The Venerable Bede further explains that Saint Oswald’s head was originally buried in Lindisfarne. The Venerable Bede writes that after the Battle of Maserfield, the king of the Mercians commanded that Saint Oswald’s head, hands, and arms “be cut off from the body, and set upon stakes.”19 Returning with an army the next year, Saint Oswald’s successor, Oswy, removed the slain king’s body parts from their stakes and eventually buried Saint Oswald’s head at Lindisfarne Abbey. A century later, Saint Oswald’s head was translated to Durham Cathedral, where it was reburied with the body of Saint Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede himself.20 In 1538, however, under the authority of King Henry VIII, the relics of Saint Cuthbert and Saint Oswald were removed from their shrine and were deposited in an unmarked grave behind the high altar of Durham Cathedral.21 According to some sources, the relics of Saint Oswald were eventually destroyed during the Reformation—though perhaps his skull survived, cosseted away in an opulent reliquary.22

Arm Reliquary of Saint Bernward

Arm Reliquary of Saint Bernward

Army Reliquary of Saint Bernward, silver, gold, and semiprecious stones over wood core (c. 1194), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

The exhibition also included an arm reliquary that once held the relics of Saint Bernward. Reliquaries in the shape of body parts, also called “speaking reliquaries” (redende Reliquiare), first gained popularity in the 11th century and were intended to evoke the character of the relics they contained.23 So, for example, leg reliquaries held leg bones, and foot reliquaries held foot bones. In the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art in Zadar, Croatia I even encountered a shoulder blade reliquary, shaped somewhat like a baby grand piano, that allegedly contained the shoulder blade of Saint Mark.24

Church of Saint Donatus, Zadar, Croatia

Church of Saint Donatus, Zadar, Croatia. The church of Saint Donatus is located across the street from the convent of Saint Mary and the Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art.  Photo by Reliquarian.

In his superb study on relics, Holy Bones, Holy Dust, Charles Freeman argues that arm reliquaries sometimes served an additional purpose beyond that of mere identification. Freeman notes that after Mass, celebrants traditionally blessed their congregations before they departed.25 Freeman writes that a blessing given by a bishop “was of a much higher status [than] that by a mere priest, and congregations often felt they had been badly done by. Yet if a priest held up an arm reliquary and blessed the congregation with that, it was believed to have the same effect as if the bishop himself had been there.”26 The posture of the Arm Reliquary of Saint Bernward—its right index finger and middle finger extended to heaven, its thumb curled slightly inward—suggests that it may occasionally have been used for this purpose, to deliver the final blessing. Another arm reliquary in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Arm Reliquary of Saint Valentine, likely served a similar function.

Army Reliquary of Saint Valentine

Army Reliquary of Saint Valentine, silver, gilded silver, and blue cabochon, Basel, Switzerland (c. 1380-1400), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Because of his patronage of the arts and his own reputed skill as an architect and artist, Saint Bernward is recognized today as a patron saint of architects, goldsmiths, painters, and sculptors. While the church he helped build, the abbey church of Saint Michael, may be his most conspicuous achievement, he accomplished so much more as a bishop and patron of the arts.27 As Medieval Treasures from Hildesheim states, “While many of Hildesheim’s bishops endowed its institutions with extraordinary works of art, no donor was more prolific or had a more significant impact on Hildesheim’s production than Bernward, the thirteenth bishop of Hildesheim.”28

Cross Reliquary

Cross Reliquary (detail), gilded silver, rock crystal, and semiprecious stones, Hildesheim, Germany (c. 1180-1190), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Arm Reliquary of Saint Bernward

Arm Reliquary of Saint Bernward (detail), silver, gold, and semiprecious stones over wood core (c. 1194), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Small Bernward Cross

Small Bernward Cross, copper alloy, gilding, and semiprecious stones, Hildesheim, Germany (c. 1170-1180), Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Italian Reliquary Cross

Reliquary Cross (detail), silver, gilded silver, enamel, coral, and rock crystal, Italy (the Marches), c. 1375-1400, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This reliquary cross from the late 14th century is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Slivers of wood can still be seen encased at the center of the cross.  Photo by Reliquarian.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.  Photo by Reliquarian.

1 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Medieval Treasures from Hildesheim 6 (Peter Barnet et al. eds., 2013).

2 Id. at 11. According to Medieval Treasures from Hildesheim, the casting of Bernward’s enormous and highly decorated bronze doors, now known as Bernward’s Doors, was “a technological breakthrough for the Middle Ages and a milestone in the history of art.” Id.

3 Id. at 7.

4 Id. at 3.

5 Id. at 14, 16.

6 Id. 42.

7 Id.

8 Id. at 86.

9 Id. at 44.

10 Id. Medieval Treasures from Hildesheim further notes that other monumental crucifixes similarly served as reliquaries.

11 Id. at 88.

12 Id.

13 Id. Examples of this reuse can be found at Prague Cathedral and Saint-Denis in Paris.

14 Charles Freeman, Holy Bones, Holy Dust 63 (2011).

15 Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England 123 (J. A. Giles ed., 1847).

16 Id. at 123–24.

17 Id. at 124.

18 Id.

19 Id. at 129.

20 Saint Bede, 1 The Complete Works of Venerable Bede: Life, Poems, Letters, Etc. at xcviii, xciii (J. A. Giles trans., 1843); Thomas J. Craughwell, Saints Preserved 228–29 (2011).

21 Craughwell, supra note 20, at 229.

22 Id.

23 Freeman, supra note 14, at 82.

24 The Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art is also more informally known as the “Gold and Silver of Zadar.” Located in the Benedictine convent next to the church of Saint Mary, the exhibition includes an overwhelming and truly extraordinary collection of relics and other sacred objects, the oldest of which—a small pectoral cross—dates from the 8th century. See Ivo Petricioli, The Permanent Exhibition of Religious Art in Zadar at VIII (2004). According to Michelin, the museum itself is “[o]ne of the best museums in Croatia.” Sacred Art Museum, Michelin Travel, http://travel.michelin.com/web/destination/Croatia-Zadar/tourist_site-Sacred_Art_Museum-Trg_Opatice_Cike. The Reliquary of the Shoulder Blade of Saint Mark, which is fashioned of embossed gilded copper metal plate, is estimated to date to the 13th century.

25 Id.

26 Id.

27 Medieval Treasures from Hildesheim suggests that the original structure of the church may have been preserved over the centuries “because Bernward’s sainthood and supposed involvement as an architect and artist gave St. Michael’s itself the status of a relic.” Metropolitan Museum of Art, supra note 1, at 7.

28 Id. at 6.

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Bones of Contention: Searching for Cosmas and Damian in Venice

22 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Reliquarian in Tomb / Sarcophagus

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bones, crucifix, Germany, Italy, Munich, relic, Saint Constantius, Saint Eustace, Saints Cosmas and Damian, San Giorgio Maggiore, skull, Tintoretto, Venice

San Giorgio Maggiore 3In an earlier post, I discussed a 15th century Rhenish School-style reliquary located at the Church of Saint Michael (St. Michaelskirche) in Munich.  The reliquary purportedly contains the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian, although as I noted in the post, other churches are also said to possess the saints’ skulls. The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice is one, and on a recent trip to Venice, I decided to find out whether the church really did posses relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian.

We arrived at San Giorgio Maggiore[1] by vaporetto at dusk. The church was dark and looked deserted, so we were afraid it might be closed. Nevertheless, we gave the door a Adoration of the Shepherds (detail)hopeful nudge, and it yielded freely. The church was open. Inside, a few tourists shuffled through the aisles, straining to catch a glimpse of the church’s treasures – paintings by Tintoretto,[2] Sebastiano Ricci, and Jacopo Bassano[3] – in the fading light, but it was no use. All sense of depth, line, and color seemed to dissolve in the gloaming, and the tourists quickly lost interest. Soon enough, they left, and in the sepulchral stillness of the empty church, we began our search for the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian in earnest.

We looked for traces of the saints in the gathering darkness. Were the skulls housed in an elaborate metal reliquary? Were they displayed in sturdy glass cases? Were they Tintoretto - Last Suppereven in the church proper rather than in a separate treasury or crypt? We hurried past fading altars, their angels and saints winking at us in the dim light of votive candles. We peered at statutes, examined chiseled writing, and contemplated the high altar. No sign of the saints.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a man striding confidently through the church. It was a priest, and we asked whether he knew about the relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian. He thought for a moment and then invited us to follow him. He led us to the rectory, where we repeated our question to one of his colleagues. “This may sound strange, but we’ve heard that the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian may be located here, at Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore. Is this true? Do you know whether the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian are here in the church?”

Venetian Polychrome CrucifixThe second priest looked uncertain, and he shook his head as he began to answer. “I don’t know about their skulls,” he said. “But, there is an altar of Cosmas and Damian.  Their bones are kept there.” I was elated, and I asked him excitedly where we might find the altar. “It is on the right side,” he explained. “Next to the large crucifix.”

I knew exactly where he meant. Earlier, I had paused before an imposing wooden crucifix, riveted by its wrenching depiction of Christ on the cross.[4] Next to it, we found the altar of Saints Cosmas and Damian. A large painting, the Martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian, attributed to the workshop of Tintoretto, hung above it. We had missed it in the darkness!  (A black and white image is available here.)

One of the saints is shown in the lower lefthand corner of the painting, his left hand outstretched but tied to a cross that is resting on the ground. One of his persecutors binds his legs to the cross while another monitors his progress. In the upper righthand corner of the painting, his brother is securely bound to another cross, which has already been raised off the ground. In the background, archers loose arrows at him while other figures appear to hurl rocks. According to tradition, the saints were unharmed by attempts to kill them with arrows, by stoning, and by crucifixion. They were eventually beheaded, along with several other brothers, who also appear in the painting, crowned with halos. An angel, tumbling into the scene from heaven, bears palm fronds in his right hand, symbols of martyrdom.

With the aid of a small flashlight – it was truly dark by now – we found a plaque secured above the altar.  It read: “OSSA SS · MAR · COSME ET DAMINI IACENT HIC” (Here Lie the Bones of Saints, Martyrs, Cosmas and Damian). We had found their bones.

Altar of Saints Cosmas and Damian


[1] The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore is located on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, east of the Giudecca, and across the Canale di San Marco from Saint Mark’s Square.

[2] Tintoretto’s celebrated The Last Supper hangs to the right of the high altar, in the presbytery. Painted in the Mannerist style, Tintoretto’s The Last Supper differs from other depictions of the Last Supper in striking ways. For example, the table at which Jesus and the Apostles share their meal is shown at an angle rather than head-on, as in many depictions of the Last Supper (for example, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous rendition at the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan.) Additionally, Jesus and the Apostles are not the only figures present in the scene. Although the eye naturally settles on Jesus, who is surrounded by a brilliant aureole of light, and the Apostles, who are distinguished by halos (except for Judas), some of the largest figures in the painting are ordinary men and women who have prepared and are serving the meal.

[3] Jacopo Bassano’s Adoration of the Shepherds hangs above the first altar on the right side of the nave.

[4] The crucifix is most likely one that was donated to the church in 1468.  The crucifix’s deteriorating, polychrome paint was restored in 1984 by the Venice in Peril Fund. Venice in Peril, “Church of San Giorgio Maggiore,” available at http://www.veniceinperil.org/projects/church-of-san-giorgio-maggiore. A sign below the crucifix read “HIC IACET CORPUS S · EUSTACHII PAT · CONST·” (Here Lies the Body of Saint Eustace, Father of [Saint] Constantius) indicating it hangs above the tomb of Saint Eustace.  (I briefly discussed Saint Constantius in an earlier post about the Waldauf Chapel in Austria.)  For a modest €0.50, were able to illuminate the crucifix for two minutes enabling us to capture a photograph of it.

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Saints Cosmas and Damian

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by Reliquarian in Metal Reliquary

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Austria, Diocletian, Gemäldegalerie, Germany, Italy, martyr, Munich, physician, relic, reliquary, Saints Cosmas and Damian, skull, Venice, Vienna

Reliquary of Saints Cosmas and Damian

Reliquary of Saints Cosmas and Damian

The reliquary pictured above purportedly contains the skulls of Saints Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers who were martyred in Cyrrhus, Syria, around the 4th century. The Rhenish School-style reliquary, which dates to 1400, is currently located at Saint Michael’s Church in Munich, Germany. The lower portion of the reliquary, which is decorated with standing figures, contains two doors that open to display the saints’ skulls.

Saints Cosmas and Damian were skilled physicians who lived on the bay of Alexandretta in Cilicia in what is now modern-day Turkey. They are venerated as “moneyless ones” or holy “unmercenaries” because they refused to accept payment in return for their services. They are honored as patron saints of physicians, along with Saint Luke and Saint Pantaleon, and are often depicted with symbols of medicine or healing, including phials, boxes of ointment, and the rod of Aesculapius — a rod entwined with a serpent. In the paintings below by the Early Renaissance painter Giovanni da Modena, both saints appear to be carrying boxes of ointment. (The two works are part of the medieval sacred art collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.)

Giovanni da Modena - SS Cosmas and DamianAlthough the exact date of their deaths is unclear, Saints Cosmas and Damian are believed to have died between 287 and 303 A.D. during the Great Persecution of the emperor Diolcetian. Following their martyrdom, a basilica was built in their honor in Cyrrhus, north of Antioch, and from there, the cult of Saints Cosmas and Damian spread to the rest of the Christian world. According to Butler, “The cult of SS Cosmas and Damian first reached Rome during the pontificate of St Symmachus (498-514; 19 July), who introduced it into an oratory near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. But it was Pope St Felix III (526-30; 22 Sept) who translated their relics and built the basilica dedicated to them.”

Saints Cosmas and Damian are explicitly invoked in the Canon of the Mass and are included in the Litany of the Saints and the Roman Martyrology. In The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, first published in 1902, Nikolaus Gihr notes that in the Roman Canon, “only martyrs are named before and after the Consecration: this distinction is justly due to them. They have merited it by the bloody sacrifice of their life; . . .” Their younger brothers Anthimus, Leontius, and Euprepius, who also died during the Diocletian persecution, are memorialized in the Roman Martyrology as well.

In addition to being patrons of doctors, Saints Cosmas and Damian are also patron saints of nurses, surgeons, pharmacists, dentists, barbers, and oddly (at least according to Butler), confectioners. The feast day of the saints, which had been celebrated on 27 September, was moved to 26 September to accommodate the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Meanwhile, the cult of Saints Cosmas and Damian appears to be alive and well. Every year, for example, thousands of people gather in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to celebrate The Italian Feast of the Healing Saints Cosmas and Damian. According to the festival’s official website, which currently features a delightful countdown clock to the next (87th) celebration, the goal of the festival is “to promote our Italian heritage, maintain a strong presence in our community, and preserve the devotion to our patrons, Saints Cosmas and Damian.” The celebration begins when statues of Saints Cosmas and Damian are removed from their chapel. Following a candlelight procession, “the festival opens as the statues are swayed down the main street of the feast. The statues are then placed in a temporary outdoor chapel as a ‘Healing Service’ is conducted with the Relic of Saints Cosmas and Damian for all in attendance.”

In addition to Saint Michael’s Church in Munich, the convent of the Clares in Madrid and Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna also lay claim to possessing the skulls of the twin saints. Other relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian are apparently kept at the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.

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