Reliquary Shrine of Saint Eleutherius
The great gilt-copper and enamel Reliquary Shrine of Saint Eleutherius in the cathedral of Tournai (Belgium), one of the masterpieces of Gothic metalwork, was commissioned by Bishop Walter de Marvis of Tournai, and completed in 1247, on the occasion of the retranslation of relics of Saint Eleutherius of Tournai, traditionally the city's first bishop. The shrine takes the architectural form of a "chasse" or gabled casket; its more distant prototype is the gabled sarcophagus that was an established Romanesque convention in Northern Europe, "a form which was quite fitting," Marvin Ross observed in discussing the similarly shaped gilt-copper and enamel reliquary of Saint Amand in the Walters Museum "since these châsses were in a sense also tombs". As with the prototypical tombs, a blind arcade runs along the base, forming niches with the protective seated figures of Apostles and Prophets. In its gable end St Eleutherius appears, holding his crozier in one hand and in the other a model of the cathedral with its five spires. 

The shrine was made in Tournai or its immediate vicinity, once part of a prolific production that is now all but lost; it has been attributed to the workshop that was founded by Nicholas of Verdun, the leading goldsmith of Mosan art, who completed the reliquary of Our Lady in 1205. It is conserved in the Treasury of the cathedral of Tournai, housed in the former chapterhouse.

Two years following the completion of this reliquary, a separate one was made for the head of Saint Eleutherius, now lost with its contents.
Q1334300
gilt
Concept
Q213371
enamel
Concept
Q391229
cathedral of Tournai
LOC
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Belgium
LOC
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Gothic metalwork
Concept
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Walter de Marvis
PER
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Tournai
LOC
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retranslation of relics
UNK
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Eleutherius of Tournai
PER
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city's first bishop
LOC
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chasse
Concept
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casket
Concept
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sarcophagus
Concept
Q46805
Romanesque
Concept
Q453698
Saint Amand
PER
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Walters Museum
LOC
Q186637
blind arcade
Concept
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niches
Concept
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Apostle
PER
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Prophet
Concept
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crozier
Concept
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Nicholas of Verdun
PER
Q1882338
Mosan art
Concept
Q391229
cathedral of Tournai
LOC
Q1416310
chapterhouse
Concept
Q7311421
Reliquary Shrine of Saint Eleutherius
LOC
1247-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1247
DATE
1205-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1205
DATE
location
country
location
country
located in the administrative territorial entity
country
cathedral
country
headquarters location
subclass of