I'm leaving, but where to?
Reliquary of Saint Paul
Münster
around 1400
Silver, gilded; enamel; rock crystal
Domschatz Münster, Inv.-Nr. E.28
Like the double-cup reliquary, this reliquary also tells of an imperial relic donation. In both cases, several centuries lie between the donation and the reliquary. The reasons for this can be varied. Was the relic originally kept somewhere else? Did the first reliquary break? Or did the old form simply fall out of fashion?
Inscription: *articulum Pauli presul | dedit hunc Herimanne + Henricus | Cesar tibi, rex Bizancius illi* | [Bishop Hermann, Emperor Heinrich gave you this finger bone of Paul—which the King of Byzantium had given to him]
The St. Paul reliquary from 1400 displays a new, more modern form of reliquary: the tower reliquary featuring miniature architecture. It draws upon the image of the saints as "living stones" of the Heavenly Jerusalem.
According to the inscription on the base, Emperor Heinrich gifted this relic to Bishop Hermann. Emperor Heinrich had previously received the relic from the King of Byzantium. There were several emperors named Heinrich and, in Münster, several bishops named Hermann; however, only two fit the same timeframe: Bishop Hermann II of Münster (served 1174–1203) and Emperor Heinrich VI (reigned 1191–1197).
