Monumental Gothic Reliquary Shrine (Grande Châsse Reliquaire)

An exceptionally rare and monumental Gothic architectural reliquary shrine (grande châsse reliquaire), carved in walnut and retaining extensive areas of historic polychromy and gilding.

Recent radiocarbon analysis undertaken by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), Brussels, has provided important new scientific evidence concerning the date of the walnut from which the reliquary was constructed.

Sample RICH-39508 produced a radiocarbon determination of 597 ± 21 BP. Calibration gives a 95.4% probability that the sampled wood dates between AD 1300 and 1410, divided between:

AD 1300–1370 — 74.2% probability
AD 1380–1410 — 21.2% probability

The laboratory’s conclusion is:

“The wood sample dates with 95.4% probability between 1300 and 1410 AD.”

This result provides important independent scientific evidence for the medieval date of the walnut. Radiocarbon analysis dates the growth of the sampled wood rather than the precise moment at which the tree was felled and subsequently carved, and therefore cannot by itself provide an exact date of manufacture. Nevertheless, the result provides significant evidence for reconsidering the reliquary within a fourteenth-century context.

Executed in the form of a miniature Gothic church, the reliquary stands upon four carved recumbent lions. Above rises an elaborate architectural structure of gables, buttresses, pinnacles, crockets, traceried arcades and pierced cresting, translating the architecture of a medieval church into a remarkable piece of devotional sculpture.

The principal iconographic programme comprises the Twelve Apostles. Four standing Apostles occupy each of the two long elevations beneath trilobed Gothic arcades, with two further figures to each gabled end, completing the apostolic group. The individually carved figures stand against decorated grounds upon which considerable areas of gilding and painted surface survive.

At each corner, a projecting architectural buttress contains a further standing figure representing one of the Four Evangelists. Their position at the four corners creates a carefully ordered theological programme in which the Evangelists and Apostles surround the sacred chamber at the centre of the shrine.

The steeply pitched roof is divided into six principal decorated panels incorporating repeating fleur-de-lys within geometric compartments. One section incorporates a concealed hinged opening, retaining its early forged-iron lock and providing access to the internal relic chamber.

The scale of the object is exceptional. Measuring more than three feet across, this was not a small personal reliquary but a major ecclesiastical furnishing intended to command a significant architectural and devotional presence.

Its conception as a church in miniature belongs to the medieval tradition of architectural reliquaries, in which the container housing the sacred relic was itself transformed into an image of sacred architecture. Sculpture, architecture, painted decoration and gilding were conceived as elements of a unified devotional object.

Of particular importance is the remarkable degree to which the reliquary survives as a complete architectural ensemble. Its four recumbent lions, apostolic cycle, corner figures, roof, architectural carving, painted and gilded surfaces and ironwork remain together.

Scientific Dating

In September 2026, a sample of the walnut was submitted to the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels.

Laboratory reference: RICH-39508
Radiocarbon determination: 597 ± 21 BP

68.2% probability:

AD 1320–1360 — 56.5%
AD 1385–1400 — 11.7%

95.4% probability:

AD 1300–1370 — 74.2%
AD 1380–1410 — 21.2%

The laboratory concluded:

“The wood sample dates with 95.4% probability between 1300 and 1410 AD.”

The scientific analysis therefore provides an important new chronological framework for the reliquary and supports its consideration as a significant surviving example of fourteenth-century Gothic devotional art.