1872
Unknown workshop
Silver, wood, bone
PFM IM 843.1-2

While working on the internal reforms of the monastic community, Archabbot Krizosztom Kruesz (1819-1885) commissioned the architect Ferenc Storno (1821-1907) with the renovation of the basilica. Up to this time, Storno had carried out several restoration works; his approach reflected that of the time, which, rather than acknowledging and conserving the remnants of past ages, realized original concepts based on medieval examples. In place of the Baroque and Classicist furnishings of the church, he himself designed the main altar, the side altars, and the pulpit, imitating medieval characteristics, and produced the furnishings and the stained-glass decorations of the Our Lady Chapel and the Saint Benedict Chapel. The reliquaries, the monstrance, and the candlestick in the showcase were also part of the basilica’s new, Neo-Gothic paraphernalia. The church was consecrated on August 27, 1876. The adorned hammer and trowel were used to lay the cornerstone to commemorate the event.