A Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

A Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

A Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, late 17th or early 18th century, olive wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl and bone, 49 cm wide x 58 cm deep x 29.5 cm high, Boston Museum of Fine Arts

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.