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Reliquary Bust of St. Paul

around 1220

Walnut wood, painted

Domschatz Münster, Inv.-Nr. DK.2024.42 (permanent loan at the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster)

This wooden bust of the saint was created roughly midway in time between the golden and the silver bust of St. Paul in the cathedral treasury. Unlike those, the heavenly nature of the saint is not emphasized here with gleaming metal and precious stones. This Paul appears almost lifelike: fair complexion, rosy cheeks, an alert gaze.

The cathedral inventories do not mention this sculpture. Either it no longer contained relics at an early stage, or it was not displayed in the nave.
The depression on its chest suggests a specially designed cloak clasp—possibly one set with a rock crystal concealing relics beneath it.

Reliquary bust of St. Paul, c. 1220, walnut, polychromed; Münster Cathedral Treasury, inv. no. DK.2024.42 (long-term loan to the LWL Museum of Art and Culture, Münster); photo: Hanna Neander
Reliquary bust of St. Paul, c. 1220, walnut, polychromed; Münster Cathedral Treasury, inv. no. DK.2024.42 (long-term loan to the LWL Museum of Art and Culture, Münster); photo: Hanna Neander