Reliquary bust
Regensburger Kunstkreis
Regensburg, ca 1300
Copper, gilt
36,0 x 31,0 x 23,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. MA 4106
From the Augustinian nunnery at Niederviehbach near Dingolfing, Lower Bavaria, acquired in 1902
Gallery 5
In the Middle Ages reliquaries were often made in the shape of the relics they contained. Therefore, head and bust reliquaries usually held skull relics. It is not known which saint’s relics were concealed in the bust and whose face it was meant to depict. The style of the formal elements, particularly the stylisation of the eyes and eyebrows as well as the characteristic wavy strands of hair, suggests a date of about 1300. According to the inscription on the underside, Kunigunde, Prioress of Eglofsheim (1320–1348), procured the bust in 1345 and donated it to the convent at Viehbach.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
