shrine
In Western art history, a shrine is both a large, house-shaped container, usually clad in precious metal, for the bones of a saint ( reliquary ) and the cabinet-like centerpiece of a carved retable that can be closed with wings (altar shrine).
The heart of a temple, be it a piece of furniture or a building for the storage of cultic and sacred objects or the abode of divine beings, can be called a shrine ; In addition to the altar (derived from the table), it is the second important cultic element of a sacred building , both also occur in a combined form.
Word origin
The word shrine is an early loan word , Latin scrinium can already be found in Old High German scrîni in the neuter gender , and Middle High German schrîn , m. And n. ('The' or 'the shrine'), the former replacing the second.
The basic meaning is 'box, box', a lockable piece of furniture , both large and standing as a cupboard or chest , and in particular hanging as a wall box, and synonymous with the original term ' drawer' - hence the name 'carpenter' for carpenters . Until the 19th century, the meaning in normal linguistic usage is both profane and sacred, Grimm's German dictionary (from 1854) gives “containers for storing objects of the cult, especially relics, usually richly decorated” as well as “in general use Lockable container for storing treasures, jewelry, money, clothes, etc. in the newly developed. Written language only in the chosen expression is synonymous with cupboard, i.e. as an upright container or container hanging on the wall (in the sense of box, drawer it is no longer in use) ", as well as the special meaning coffin ('death box')" transitioning to the meaning of Coffin, first of those who receive sacred or venerable bones, then in more general use ”.
The religious studies aspect only prevails in modern times and developed beyond 'venerable' - Grimm says: “Otherwise, in the narrower sense, from a hanging container that is precious due to material, artistic work or content, especially from an ancient one.” - towards the object of the cultic, and in this sense serves to describe the structural forms of the rite of non-Christian religions.
The shrine in ancient Egypt
The shrine, also known as the naos , refers to a long tradition in ancient Egypt that goes back to the early dynastic period , when it served as a reputation for harboring images of God. In ancient Egyptian mythology , the shrine was also considered to be the "interior of heaven", i.e. the place where the gods lived. In it, in addition to images of God, images of kings were kept in order to enable all citizens to perform the daily temple rituals of the priesthood and other private venues.
Shrines in the Christian church interior
The heyday of the reliquary was the late 12th to 14th centuries. In the goldsmith's art on the Rhine and Meuse, the basic form derived from the sarcophagus developed into house-shaped structures richly decorated with figures and architectural elements. These shrines are among the main works of medieval goldsmithing. Often set up in connection with an altar, the reliquary is functionally similar, but not related to the altar shrine in terms of form and development. This term describes the cabinet-like or box-like middle part of the winged altar , equipped with figurative carvings and closable with door-like "altar wings" . It too could serve as a place for keeping or presenting relics, especially in its early examples from the 14th century. However, a monocausal derivation of the winged altar shrine from reliquary cabinets has not been retained in recent research. By the end of the Middle Ages, the dimensions and quantities of the altar shrines made for church furnishings increased , then the winged altar quickly lost its importance.
Other contexts
- The shrines in Haifa and Akko , to which thousands of pilgrims travel every year, are of particular importance in the Bahá'í faith .
- Particular importance in Judaism has the Torah ark in which in every synagogue , the Torah scrolls are kept.
- The cult places of Japanese Shinto are usually called Shinto shrines in German , in contrast to the temples of Buddhism .
- Traditional places of worship of various African religions are also referred to as shrines.
See also
literature
- Dorothee Kemper: The goldsmith's work on the Shrine of the Three Kings. Existence and history of its restorations in the 19th and 20th centuries. Volume 1: Text contributions- Volume 2: Image documentation. Volume 3: Catalog and appendix (= studies on Cologne Cathedral. Volume 11). New edition, Cologne Cathedral, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-922442-78-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ SHRINE, with container, cupboard . In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : German dictionary . Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
- ↑ a b Adelung 1798 gives the profane reference still priority entry: The shrine. In: Johann Christoph Adelung : Grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect . 4th edition. Leipzig 1798, p. 1654-1655 ( zeno.org ).
- ↑ Shrine . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 14, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 628.
- ↑ Entry shrine. In: Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander (Hrsg.): German Sprichwort Lexikon . tape 4 .. Leipzig 1876, Sp. 342 ( zeno.org ).
- ↑ SHRINE 1) . In: Grimm: German dictionary. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
- ↑ a b SHRINE 3) . In: Grimm: German dictionary. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
- ↑ SHRINE 2) . In: Grimm: German dictionary. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
- ↑ Stefan Pfeifer: Rulers and Dynasty Cults in the Ptolemaic Empire: Systematics and Classification of Cult Forms. Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-56933-3 , p. 109 ( at Google-books ).
- ↑ Ulrich Bock: Artikrl Shrine. In: Hans Dieter Betz, Don S. Browning, B. Janowski, E. Jüngel (eds.): Religion in past and present. (RGG4) Vol. 7, 4th, completely revised edition, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2004, ISBN 978-3-16-146907-7 , column 1002.
- ^ Hans Wentzel, Wilhelm Castelli: The Cismar Altar. Ellermann, Hamburg 1937, p. 40
- ↑ Harald Keller: The winged altar as a reliquary. In: Studies on the History of European Sculpture, Festschrift for Theodor Müller. Hirmer, Munich 1965, pp. 125-144.
- ^ Norbert Wolf : German carved altars of the 14th century (= monuments of German art; annual edition of the German Association for Art History. 2000/01). Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin 2002, ISBN 978-3-87157-194-7 , pp. 12–20 and 356–361.