Treasures of Faith. Masterpieces from the Dom-Museum, Hildesheim, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin, on display in the Bode Museum

The most famous testaments to medieval church art from the National Museums' Museum of Decorative Arts, Berlin, and the Dom-Museum, Hildesheim, have been brought together in a show hosted in the Bode Museum. The impetus for the exhibition is both positive and distinctly practical in nature, as extensive renovation work is currently being undertaken at both the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts and the Dom-Museum in Hildesheim. Rather than having the two institution's most beautiful treasures hidden away from the public during this time, the exquisite sacred art treasures will go on show, brought together for the first and last time.

The centrepiece of this exhibition is formed by key works from the Welfenschatz (which once made up the church treasure of the Collegiate Church of Saint Blaise in Braunschweig, also known as Brunswick), as well as from the Hildesheim cathedral treasure, which, together with the Hildesheim cathedral itself and the convent church of St. Michael, form a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. Important incunabula and illustrated manuscripts from the Berlin State Library and selected works from the host museum's own Sculpture Collection complete the spectacular exhibition.

Awaiting the visitor are numerous works representing various high-points in European cultural history, ranging from Late Antiquity to the late Gothic period. Thanks to the striking juxtapositions of the works, visitors are afforded new and often surprising perspectives on these testaments of deep faith and the exceptional artistic craftsmanship, be it, for instance, while admiring the expressive, 1000 year-old Bernwardian silver casts, or the radiant, colour-rich enamel works that bear witness to Romantic enamel art from Cologne and Hildesheim.

Photo: Domed reliquary from the Welfenschatz, Cologne, late 12th century. Champlevé on gilded copper; gilded bronze; partially gilded silver; base with brown varnish; walrus tooth; oak centre.

© National Museums in Berlin, Museum of Decorative Arts; Photo: Jürgen Liepe