2col Reliquary chasse frontal view

An unusually large Limoges Reliquary Chasse, circa 1190–1200, will be on view in the exhibition at Blumka Gallery.

MUST RUN 10/12

TWO NYC GALLERIES PRESENT MEDIEVAL BAROQUE OCT 18 w/1 cut

avv/gs set 10/4 #714753

NEW YORK CITY — Two important exhibitions of rare medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art will be on view here at the same time: one will be held at Blumka Gallery, and the other will be presented by the London dealer Sam Fogg at the Alexander Gallery.

Anthony Blumka of Blumka Gallery in New York and Florian Eitle-Bohler of the Munich-based Kunsthandlung Julius Bohler will once again mount an exhibition of rare medieval, Renaissance and Baroque works of art, “Collecting Treasures of the Past, VI,” which opens Thursday, October 18, and will remain on view through November 2. Blumka and Bohler selected all 55 objects, the majority of which are new acquisitions, for their artistic rarity and historical significance.

“Florian and I are very pleased to present these rare and historic objects that were part of a private collection that has been kept together since the late Nineteenth Century,” said Blumka.

Highlights of “Collecting Treasures of the Past VI,” which range in price from $10,000 to $1.5 million, include an early Thirteenth Century Crucifix, from Spain, a Madonna and Child, a Lion Aquamanile, circa 1400, and a figure of Morgante, Florence, circa 1534.

Running concurrently with the exhibition is “Art of the Middle Ages,” presented by the London specialist Sam Fogg, at the Alexander Gallery. This exhibition will include precious objects, sculpture, stained glass, manuscripts and paintings.

One of the important highlights of the exhibition is a limestone figure of St Crispin, standing at his workbench cutting leather for shoes, France, Champagne, circa 1510. Well preserved, this sculpture had a dual function both as a devotional object but also, perhaps, as shop sign for a cobbler.

Another rarity is the giant bible from the Imperial Abbey of St Maximin in Trier from the Eleventh Century. This huge manuscript is the oldest extant single volume Bible of any kind from Germany and has an unbroken provenance for nearly 1,000 years. It opens with two brilliantly colored carpet pages and has elaborately painted initials throughout.

Blumka Gallery is at 209 East 72nd Street, between Second and Third Avenues. For information, 212-734-3222.

The Alexander Gallery is at 942 Madison Avenue, between 74th and 75th Streets. For information, 212-472-1636.