How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?
The Bust of Charlemagne (de: Karlsbüste) is a reliquary from around 1350 which contains the top part of Charlemagne's skull. The reliquary is part of the treasure kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. Made in the Mosan region (the valley of the River Meuse), long a centre of high-quality metalwork, the bust is a masterpiece both of late Gothic metalwork and of figural sculpture.
The Bust of Charlemagne, as a masterpiece of Mosan goldwork, initiated a height of silver-gilt naturalistic reliquary busts.
top part silver Aachen Aachen Cathedral naturalistic silver-gilt Meuse Aachen Cathedral Treasury de reliquary Mosan goldwork metalwork Charlemagne sculpture Gothic