Cup with cover

Unknown

ca. 1560–70 · Rock crystal, partly gilded silver mounts · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Originally a Kunstkammer piece, this covered cup was later converted to a reliquary with the addition of a hook. Some believed rock crystal to be the frozen tears of the gods; the material was often used in reliquaries because its limpid transparency allowed visual access to the divine and associated it with heaven’s light. The increasing worship of relics and inflating number of new canonizations were two aspects of Catholicism that led Martin Luther to initiate the Reformation.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1560–70

Medium

Rock crystal, partly gilded silver mounts

Culture

German, Freiburg im Breisgau

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917