The Matter of the Eucharist: The Berlin Mass of Saint Gregory Mother-of-pearl Carvings in the Context of Late Medieval Devotion

Abstract

Mother-of-pearl carvings, popular throughout Europe during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, constitute a unique group of late medieval devotional microcarvings. Although many of these objects survive in museum collections around the world, they are largely devoid of their primary supports, making their original function difficult to decipher. Considering the scarce archival documentation, the objects themselves become the main source of evidence regarding their primary purposes. Especially interesting in this respect are the two carvings in the collection of the Bode Museum in Berlin which demonstrate strong interdependence in terms of their iconography, compositions, style and dimensions — placed next to each other, they form the scene of the Mass of St Gregory. Through the examination of the primary format, reception, and meaning of the Berlin Mass of St Gregory, the following study aims to shed new light on the little-known aspects of the utilisation of mother-of-pearl carving within late medieval private devotion. Mother-of-pearl as a material is a crucial focus of this study, arguing that its unique qualities and symbolic resonances in the medieval context set these objects apart from similar ones, and are therefore vital to their full understanding. This premise allowed to draw conclusions on the function of the Berlin carvings as a portable devotional diptych (probably intended as an indulgence image), proposing that through the characteristic iridescence and lustre of mother-of-pearl, the Berlin Mass of St Gregory encouraged the viewer to meditate not only the images carved on their surface — but also the meanings embedded in the very material. Additionally, the study addresses the overlooked element of the Berlin Mass of St Gregory, the inauthentic monogram of Albrecht Dürer, to see how its presence affects the meaning of the ensemble.