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A Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

Probably Jerusalem, possibly Bethlehem
late 17th or early 18th century

Medium/Technique Olive wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl and bone
Dimensions 29.8 × 49.5 × 58.4 cm (11 3/4 × 19 1/2 × 23 in.)
Credit Line Frank B. Bemis Fund
Accession Number2016.91
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsModels
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.

DescriptionA scale model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The model consists of 16 separate pieces that can be disassembled.
ProvenanceBy 2004, private collection, Germany [see note]. July 6, 2011, anonymous sale, Bonhams, London, lot 28, probably to Peter Petrou (dealer), London; 2016, sold by Peter Petrou to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 27, 2016)

NOTE: Exhibited at the Schloss Berg (Bavaria), Germany, in 2004.