[MR] Duke of Berry's Holy Thorn Reliquary

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today's Wikipedia homepage has an article about the Waddeson Bequest, a
collection of mostly Renaissance and some medieval treasures willed to the
British Museum in 1898 by the uber-rich Ferdinand de Rothschild. It is a
massive collection, and too much for me to sort out for you. One object of
great interest stands out, the Holy Thorn Reliquary, believed to have been
created for John, Duke of Berry (yes, him, of the *Très Riches Heures*).

To start with, French King Louis IX bought Christ's original Crown of
Thorns in 1239. Well, maybe. Louis believed he had the real one, and paid
well for it. The Crown of Thorns, by the way, was heroically rescued from
the recent fire at Notre-Dame de Paris by the fire brigade.

Having lots of thorns, many had been broken off from the Crown and given as
priceless gifts to the rich and famous, including Charlemagne. Louis
continued the vandalism. Somehow the Duke obtained one or two thorns, and
prior to 1397 had the elaborate reliquary constructed to hold said relics.

The Reliquary is about 12" high, and is lavishly decorated with
three-dimensional figures. It is made of gold, enamel, gems and rock
crystal, and almost explodes in an exuberant display of devotional energy.
The piece is certainly a "wow"!

Eventually the Reliquary passed to the Austrian Habsburgs. In the mid-19th
century it was sent to master jeweler Salomon Weinenger for repairs. He
secretly made several copies of the Reliquary, which Weinenger then sold on
the shady antiques market, a profitable sideline for which he eventually
went to prison. The example returned to the Habsburg treasury was a fake,
but so good a fake it was not detected for a long, long time. The original
Reliquary was sold to the Rothschilds in 1872. Well, the British Museum has
the real deal now, though I'm sure the Austrians would love to have it back.

You can read about the Reliquary and marvel at the details on this
Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Thorn_Reliquary .

More about John, Duke of Berry is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_Duke_of_Berry .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆