Collection record · Objects & craft
Plaque from a Chasse for Relics of Saint Thomas Becket
The collection record classifies this work as enamel. It is dated 1220–25. Recorded culture or place: France, Limousin, Limoges, Gothic period, 13th century.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Plaque from a Chasse for Relics of Saint Thomas Becket
- Date
- 1220–25
- Culture / origin
- France, Limousin, Limoges, Gothic period, 13th century
- Materials and technique
- copper: gilded and engraved; champlevé enamel
- Dimensions
- Overall: 16.9 x 28.5 x 0.5 cm (6 5/8 x 11 1/4 x 3/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Master G. Alpais (French); Workshop
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1951.449
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket was brutally murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. The immediate popularity of Becket’s cult is reflected in the large number of enamel reliquaries produced in late 12th- and early 13th-century Limoges workshops to house relics associated with the archbishop, who was canonized only three years after his death. This plaque, which pairs a scene depicting the Martyrdom of Thomas Becket with one of Christ’s Crucifixion, once formed the principal face of such a reliquary.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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