Ancient and medieval viewers recognized the similar visual properties shared by transparent glass and rock crystal. Thus, as in the case of glass reliquaries, pilgrim flasks made of rock crystal such as that in the British Museum (inventory no.
PE AF.3129) also had the ability to simultaneously reveal and protect the holy relics inside and therefore could have held many symbolic associations similar to those just described. In fact The Golden Legend, a series of stories about the saints written during the late Middle Ages, describes how both glass and crystal flasks were used to hold miraculous blood that had issued forth from an image of Jesus Christ, indicating their similar nature and function.30
Carved crystal products were not locally produced in the West until the late twelfth century and therefore, like glass, the medium may have been associated with the Holy Land because of its eastern origin.31 Islamic territories were pro-ducing high quality artistic carved crystal by the ninth century under the Fatimids of Egypt.32 European interest in Fatimid carved crystal was greatly fueled after they obtained many crystal vessels—and glass vessels imitating crystal ones—
from the dispersal of the Fatimid treasury in 1061.33 There were also many pieces of Fatimid crystal in the Byzantine imperial treasury and many of these entered European collections after the 1204 Sack of Constantinople.
Avinoam Shalem’s research has dispelled the notion that crystal flasks were initially made as secular perfume bottles and convincingly argued that many were likely meant to house relics from their inception.34 Some such crystal vessels were imported containing relics from the Holy Land while others were converted into reliquaries after their arrival in the West.35 Inscriptions offering blessings found on the flasks indicate their sacred nature and may have enhanced their function as a reliquary. For instance, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s pendant from ca. 1000 with a mount from ca. 1300 (inventory no. M.110–1966) bears the inscription “Hail Mary, full of grace” in Latin, a holy sentiment reminiscent of Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary that reinforces the aforementioned sugges-tion that glass was associated with the moment of the Incarnasugges-tion.
A group of Fatimid crystal vessels augmented by decorative moldings or dis-play settings that emphasized a sacred function made their way into religious contexts in the Latin West. Examples including the Cross of Nikomedes of Borghorst from ca. 1050 in Pfarrgemeinde St. Nikomedes, Steinfurt-Borghorst (Figure 4.4), the Pendant in the Form of a Fish in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inven-tory no. M.110–1966), the Flask Reliquary in the British Museum (inven(inven-tory no.
FBIs.13), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Reliquary of Mary Magdalene
Figure 4.4: German Workshop, Cross of Nikomedes of Borghorst, ca. 1050, Pfarrgemeinde St. Nikomedes, Steinfurt-Borghorst, Germany. Source: Markus Cösters via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).
(inventory no. 17.190.504) all feature crystal vessels set within a larger devo-tional artwork. As Shalem points out, when these crystal objects were incorpo-rated into larger devotional ensembles, certain aspects of their design related to their function were lost in a process he calls aestheticization.36 For example when converting the carved crystal flask into a religious context emphasizing display the weight of the ampullae hanging around one’s neck or from one’s belt could no longer be appreciated. Also inaccessible was the tactile sensation of the faceted angles of the cut crystal. In place of these lost qualities new aesthetic appreciation of the decorations was possible. For instance when the crystal vessel was set within the lavish context of the Reliquary of Mary Magdalene or Cross of St. Nikomedes of Borghorst the viewer was more likely to appreciate the medium’s transparency and the artistry of the engravings in a new, more pronounced way.
Shalem’s assessment of these objects’ aestheticization is useful and can fur-ther be extended to issues related to the objects’ materiality. In addition to the newly appreciated aesthetic aspects of the vessels their medium was also now more prominently on display and, subsequently, the visual connection with the relics assumed a more profound role. This new, modified relationship between the viewer and the crystal flask could have easily fostered contemplation of the crys-tal’s transparent qualities, their symbolic potential, and other associations with the medium.
As with glass, ancient sources and biblical references also informed medie-val European perception of the medium of crystal. Crystal was associated with natural elements such as air and water. Beruni claimed that crystal was “regarded as noble because of its transparency and clarity, and also because it is like the essential elements of life (i.e., air and water)”37 and agreed with those, such as Pliny the Elder, who believed that crystal is congealed water. Beruni supports this position by noting how crystal pieces sometimes contain air bubbles, grass, dirt, or other matter which, he reasons, were absorbed by the crystal when it was in its liquid state.38 Medieval natural scientists in the West, such as Isidore of Seville, disseminated Beruni’s theories and extended their influence. As he describes in his Etymologies, Isidore posited that crystal was formed from snow that hardened into ice.39
The connection between crystal and water fostered the view that crystal had spiritual symbolism related to the sacrament of baptism. For example, Rabanus Maurus described the connection between crystal and the sacrament of baptism in his De universo.40 Thus as with the case of glass vessels, rock crystal ones could have also offered the opportunity to contemplate the visual transmission of the relic through the transparent medium and therefore been a powerful symbolic
tool with which to contemplate aspects of the undisturbed passage and the rela-tionship between the heavenly realm and the earthly one.