Holy Thorn Reliquary returns home for anniversary

A medieval object that has been on display at the British Museum is being returned to its Aylesbury home next year to mark two anniversaries.

The Holy Thorn Reliquary will go on display at Waddesdon Manor in April for the first and only time since it was given to the museum.

Made from enamelled gold set with sapphires, rubies and pearls, the reliquary was designed to hold a single thorn believed to come from the Crown of Thorns placed on Christ's head before the Crucifixion.

The BBC's A History of the World in 100 Objects described it as "without question one of the supreme achievements of medieval European metalwork".

In the 16th century, the object was housed in the Habsburg Imperial Treasury. By the 19th century, it was replaced by a near-identical copy.

The genuine reliquary subsequently reached the art market and was acquired by Baron Anselm de Rothschild. He was the father of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild who created 19th Century Waddesdon Manor.

Ferdinand inherited the reliquary and later bequeathed it, along with about 300 other objects, to the British Museum.

Next year five exhibitions and displays will bring together historic loans, new commissions and discoveries from the family archive to celebrate two important milestones in the history of the Manor.

It will be 150 years since the Waddesdon Manor's foundation stone was laid and 70 years since James de Rothschild bequeathed the Manor to the National Trust.

The programme will also include two portraits by Thomas Gainsborough, and Jacob's Dream - a walk through the grounds featuring works commissioned in memory of Jacob, 4th Lord Rothschild.

Dame Hannah Rothschild said: "These anniversaries are a chance to celebrate the people who created Waddesdon Manor and those who have cared for it since.

"They are also an opportunity to bring something new to the house and gardens.

"From the return of the Holy Thorn Reliquary to the works commissioned for Jacob's Dream, we hope this programme will give visitors fresh reasons to look, explore and enjoy a place that has meant so much to five generations of my family."

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