Olifant-reliquary

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Olifant-reliquary, Olifant imported from Sicily and ramanied by a Mosan workshop around 1160-1180. Ivory, repoussé, openwork, chased and gilded cast copper. Provenance: treasury of the Saint Servatius Church in Maastricht. Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Musée du Cinquantenaire, Brussels, Belgium). Made of 180 pictures with ReCap pro from AutoDesk.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, Sicilian ivory carving workshops had specialized in the production of olifants, that is to say, as the name suggests, hunting horns carved from elephant tusks. . After his arrival in the Mosan region, this olifant, perceived as a curiosity or considered as an object that had belonged to a saint, was transformed into a reliquary. It was then embellished with a gold decoration representing busts of apostles, pophetes and virtues.

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