[Introduction]

Realms of Faith: Medieval Art from the Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland proudly possesses one of the richest
collections of medieval art in the United States. Their treasures in ivory carving,
metalwork, panel painting, and manuscript illumination all attest to the importance of
devotional religious art during the Middle Ages. Realms of Faith presents a selection of
both rarely seen and well-known pieces, from geographic origins that stretch from Spain
to Turkey and Russia to North Africa, providing the viewer with an introduction to the
rich diversity of medieval art forms and styles.

Unlike today’s world in which we commonly insert a divide between the sacred and
secular realms, during the medieval period Christians found divine connections in all
aspects of their everyday lives. Artists in the western European nations and eastern
Byzantine Empire alike satisfied the desires of their patrons, and perhaps expressed their
personal faith, by creating objects that served as “crafted confessions” of their beliefs.
These declarations of devotion demonstrate the inspirational adaptability of Christian
ideas, which provided a catalyst for the manufacture of medieval artworks. In a museum
setting it is easy to forget that these objects were not made to be displayed under glass,
but were vital components of the living faiths of the people who used them. The impact
these artworks exerted is examined in three arenas of medieval life: the Realm of
Liturgical Celebration, the Realm of Private Devotion, and the Realm of Domestic Life.

Realm of Liturgical Celebration

Communal celebrations in churches were the focal point of medieval Christianity.

Although believers also practiced their faith elsewhere, they gathered in church for their
most important ritual, the Mass. During this dramatic ritual, the faithful receive the
sacrament of Holy Communion by consuming the consecrated Eucharist, thereby
participating in the Last Supper, the sacred meal that Jesus shared with his apostles
before his Crucifixion.

According to the Gospels, Jesus blessed bread and wine and gave it to his disciples,
identifying those elements with his own body and blood. The Catholic doctrine of
transubstantiation asserts that the gifts of bread and wine consecrated by the priest during
Mass become the body and blood of Christ. Thus, during Communion, the sharing of
Eucharist with the congregation, medieval Catholics received what they believed to be
the body of Jesus, sacrificed to redeem their sins. The precious materials and ornate
decoration of the Eucharistic instruments displayed here demonstrate both the
sacrament’s significance and the medieval worshipper’s belief in its redemptive power.
Realm of Private Devotion

For medieval Catholics, expressions of spirituality were not confined to the daily or
weekly observance of Mass. From small icons worn about the necks of Byzantine
believers to ivory carvings of the Virgin and Child appropriately sized for private chapels
and easy transport, wealthy patrons commissioned material reminders of their faith.
These objects helped their pious owners reflect upon the divine mysteries of the Christian
faith, such as the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection of Christ, or the empowerment of the
early church on Pentecost. Equally important to devout medieval patrons were scenes of
the saints, whose protection or pious examples were quickly brought to mind by their
comforting likenesses in private chapels or at home.

Realm of Domestic Life

During the Middle Ages, those wealthy enough to adorn their homes with precious
objects sought reminders of their spirituality. Architectural embellishments and
decorations for the familial table served a practical purpose, but equally importantly, they
offered moral lessons to those discerning enough to understand their spiritual
significance.

Medieval Christians had long held a fascination for the symbolic properties of animals.
As early as the second century, Greek Christians adapted Hellenistic natural histories
cataloging the characteristics of animals from the ancient book known as the
Physiologus, and accorded them symbolic, Christian meanings. These Christian
interpretations, derived from fabulous descriptions of real and fictive beasts, provided a
magical treasury of symbolic associations that formed the medieval bestiary tradition. At
once playful and informative, the allegorical properties of animals alluded to by the
objects on display here reveal the fusion of the “sacred” and the “secular” in the medieval
home.