Holy Molar! The Tooth Reliquary of St. John the Baptist at the Art Institute of Chicago

The reliquary with the Tooth of St. John the Baptist at the Art Institute comes from the famous Guelph Treasure, formerly held at Brunswick Cathedral in Germany. The reliquary features an 11th-century Islamic rock crystal vase set in 14th-century Gothic metalwork. This paper explores some of the reasons for which medieval Christians chose to incorporate objects from other cultures in their own art objects.