UNKNOWN GOLDSMITH, German
(active 1235-1249)

Shrine of St Elizabeth of Hungary

1235-49
Copper and gilt, 135 x 187 x 63 cm
Elisabethkirche, Marburg

Built to house the relics of St Elizabeth of Hungary, Countess of Thuringia, canonized in 1235, the shrine is designed as a hall-like building with a transept. Possibly Thuringian or Saxon drawings were used as models. The shrine continues the tradition set by the great Rhineland shrines of the Romanesque period.