A Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem
late 17th or early 18th century
Medium/TechniqueOlive wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl and bone
Dimensions49 cm wide x 58 cm deep x 29.5 cm high
19 1/2 in x 23 in deep x 11 3/4 in high
19 1/2 in x 23 in deep x 11 3/4 in high
Credit LineFrank B. Bemis Fund
Accession number2016.91
On View
On viewClassificationsModels
Collections
Still standing in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher enshrines the reputed sites of Jesus’s crucifixion, entombment, and resurrection. In the 17th century, Middle Eastern craftsmen—working in Franciscan monasteries in the Holy Land—produced wooden models of the church, as gifts for European rulers and as prized souvenirs for wealthy pilgrims to this holiest site in Christendom. (Today several denominations share control over the church itself.) Only about thirty such wooden models are known, made in different sizes and with varying degrees of refinement. Large versions like this one could be disassembled to allow one to explore the interior.
NOTE: Exhibited at the Schloss Berg (Bavaria), Germany, in 2004.
About 1720
mid-19th century
mid-18th century
1740s
probably 18th century
18th–19th century
16th–17th century
17th–18th century
18th century
13th-14th century
late 19th century