Victoria & Albert Museum

I arrived in London today by train and after dropping my bags off at my incredibly nice hostel I hopped back onto the tube to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  The museum has a great collection of Medieval artifacts, not to mention their extensive decorative arts collection.

 The screen I am standing in front of was a rare screen to find in the Middle Ages and may have shielded the tomb of Richard de Wych, the Bishop of Chichester from 1245 to 1253.  The screen was originally painted red with gilded, but I think that I prefer it in black!  The Bishops followers believed that he performed miracles beyond the grave.

Two of my favorite reliquaries  from the V & A Museum.  The bust once contained a portion of a head a Bishop saint named Antiguis.  Many time the reliquaries were designed to take the shape of the body part that they held, like the hand below.  The relic parts of the hand would have been visible through the fingers, but have been lost.