"Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe" Exhibition, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Through May 15th

Wow. WOW.

This just in: On view until May 15th of this year at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, a new exhibition of relics and reliquaries entitled "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe."

To get a sense of the kinds of treasures that await, check out the Treasures of Heaven "Digital Monograph" (from which these images were drawn) by clicking here.

Press release for the exhibition follows:

Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe
Feb. 13, 2011 - May 15th, 2011
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

First major U.S. exhibition of Christian relics and reliquaries co-organized by the Walters, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the British Museum

Baltimore—The Walters Art Museum will host an exhibition offering visitors a glimpse into the Middle Ages, a time when art mediated between heaven and earth and wondrous objects of gold, silver and precious gems filled churches and monastic treasuries. Relics, the physical remains of holy people and objects associated with these individuals, play a central role in a number of religions and cultures and were especially important to the development of Christianity as it emerged in the Late Roman world as a powerful new religion. On view at the Walters Feb. 13–May 15, 2011, Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe is the first exhibition in the United States to focus on the history of relics and reliquaries—the special containers to display the holy remains of Christian saints and martyrs. The exhibition is organized by the Walters Art Museum in partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Art and the British Museum.

Reliquaries proclaimed the special status of their sacred contents to worshipers and pilgrims, and for this reason, were often objects of artistic innovation, expressions of civic and religious identity, and focal points of ritual action. This exhibition will feature 133 metalworks, sculptures, paintings and illuminated manuscripts from Late Antiquity through the Reformation and beyond. It will explore the emergence and transformation of several key types of reliquary, moving from an age in which saintly remains were enshrined within closed containers to an era in which relics were increasingly presented directly to worshipers.

Many of the reliquaries in the exhibition have never before been seen outside of their home countries. Objects are drawn from celebrated public and private collections in the U.S. and Europe, and also from important church treasuries. In addition to the three organizing museums, world-renowned institutions, including the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art, are lending works to the exhibition. Nine works are traveling from the Vatican collections, including three reliquaries that were once housed in the Sancta Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, the private relic chapel of the Pope.

Visitors will witness the transformation of reliquaries from simple containers for the earthly remains of Christian holy men and women to lavishly decorated objects of personal and communal devotion.

"As early as the second century AD, the relics of Christian saints—including their bones, ashes and other bodily remains—were thought to be more valuable than the most precious gemstones. They were believed to be a conduit for the power of the saints and to provide a direct link between the living faithful and God," said Martina Bagnoli, Robert and Nancy Hall associate curator of medieval art and exhibition co-curator. "These remains were treated with reverence and often enshrined in containers that used luxurious and precious materials to proclaim the relics' importance."

The medieval devotion to relics gave birth to new forms of architecture and prompted significant developments in the visual arts. The reliquaries showcased in Treasures of Heaven provide evidence of religious objects traveling across tremendous distances and of people making pilgrimages across the Mediterranean to walk in the footsteps of important figures from sacred history. Powerful in inspiring religious devotion among believers, reliquaries became cutting-edge works of art that combined innovative techniques with beautiful design.

"Those who come to the exhibition thinking that the Middle Ages are only a period of darkness will be surprised," said Martina Bagnoli.

Highlights of Treasures of Heaven include:

• Reliquary Bust of St. Baudime, c. 1180-1200,Parish Church of Saint-Nectaire, Puy-le-Dôme
• This nearly life-sized bust is one of the earliest surviving objects of its kind and travels outside of France for the first time.
• Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude, c. 1045, Cleveland Museum of Art
• This work is from the Guelph Treasure, one of the most important church treasuries to have survived from medieval Germany.
• Head Reliquary of St. Eustace, c. 1200, British Museum
• This head-shaped reliquary contained fragments of the skull of the Roman military leader Saint Eustace...

You can find out more about the exhibition here, and more about the topic of relics and reliquaries on the Treasures of Heaven "Digital Monograph" by clicking here. You can purchase the exhibition catalog by clicking here.

All images from the Treasures of Heaven "Digital Monograph;" you can find out more about them the images, and peruse the website, by clicking here. It was unclear how many of these are in the physical exhibition.