The veil monstrance

This exceptionally artistic and lavish monstrance is, at a height of 80cm, the largest and most splendid Baroque monstrance in Austria. A monstrance is a liturgical vessel used in the Catholic Church to hold the consecrated host (symbolising the body of Christ), presented to the believers at high church celebrations.

The term ‘monstrance’ comes from the Latin ‘monstrare’ meaning ‘to show’. The Austrian sculptor Matthias Steinl completes the design for this masterpiece, which is carried out by the imperial chamber goldsmith Johann Baptist Känischbauer von Hohenried between 1710 and 1714.

The materials are mainly gold-plated silver, with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and a total of 1395 pearls. It is commissioned by the monastery itself, to mark its 600 year anniversary.

It features the foundation tale of Klosterneuburg Monastery. While out hunting, Margrave Leopold III (later Saint Leopold) discovers the veil of his consort Agnes on the branches of an elder tree, many years after it has been carried off by the wind. Leopold interprets this as a sign from God and pledges to establish a monastery.