# Bust of Saint Frederick

- By: Elias Scerpswert (1320–1387)
- Date: 1362
- Medium: silver (metal)
- Classification: reliquary
- Dimensions: height 26.5 cm
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/BK-NM-11450--ceae472e3a423da8d8b542d6901ebb23)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/ygNPr/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This bust once contained part of the skull of Frederick, Bishop of Utrecht. After his murder in 838, he was canonized and his skull was venerated as an important relic. The silversmith Scerpswert made this precious container for the skull, shaping it like a portrait bust of the bishop. On Christian feast days, the faithful could worship this devotional object.