The So-called Horn of Saint Blaise (1100–1200): Art, History and Details

The So-called Horn of Saint Blaise (1100–1200) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This oliphant--a carved elephant tusk in the shape of a hunting horn--was likely carved in an Arab ivory workshop in South Italy or Sicily. It is masterfully shaped, with a series of six carved bands, the outer ring depicting scenes from a hunt. The earliest surviving inventory of the church of Saint Blaise from 1482-85 lists an oliphant decorated with silver rings and precious stones and known as the "Horn of Saint Blaise." By the 17th century, Saint Blaise was reputed to have used this very horn to summon the faithful to worship.

Object facts

• Title: The So-called Horn of Saint Blaise
• Date: 1100–1200
• Culture: South Italy or Sicily, 12th century
• Type: Ivory
• Technique: ivory
• Dimensions: Overall: 12 cm (4 3/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Romanesque
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1930.740

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• W. M. M. “The Acquisition of Six Objects from the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 9 (November 1930): 165–178, 183.
• W. M. M. “The Acquisition of Six Objects from the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art: Foreword.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 9 (November 1930): 163–165.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.