Shrine of the apostles
Silver, wood
H. 27.4 cm; W. 46 cm; D. 14.7 cm
End of the 12th and 13th centuries
Orne, Saint-Évroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois
Inv. 998.193.2
© CD 61 / Digitage

Now empty, it housed the relics of Saint Évroult, the evangelizer and founder of Ouche Abbey at the end of the 6th century. In the 12th and 13th centuries, this Benedictine monastery became one of the most important Norman abbeys. Only ruins of it remain. Thanks to having been stored away by the inhabitants, the shrine escaped revolutionary vandalism.
Rectangular in plan, the shrine is topped by a gable cover. The wood has been slightly hollowed out to accommodate the silver plates and gilded copper decoration elements. On the slopes of the roof, Christ in majesty alternate, surrounded by the Alpha and the Omega, in a mandorla surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists and, in a circular medallion, the Archangel Michael slaying the dragon. In the center there is a large decorative flower-shaped ornaments. Various patterns meandering along the roof stripes. On the facade, prophets and apostles sit surrounded by trefoil arcades. Two abbots are associated with them, possibly Saint Gilles and Saint Évroult whose relics were present in 1099 when the abbey was consecrated.