At this time in Germany were made great coronas or crowns of light that sometimes spanned the nave of the churches, like that made by Bishop Bernaward (992-1022), and his successor Hezilo for the Cathedral of Hildesheim, a cast of which is now in the Kensington Museum. The twelfth century was very fertile in important works in gold, silver, bronze, and copper. Metal work was carried to a high degree of elaborate finish and intricacy of design. [Illustration: Fig. 151.—Golden Altar Front; from Bâsle. Cluny Museum. Eleventh Century.] Some wonderful achievements in casting, plating, and gilding of metals have been performed during this prolific period. The celebrated Gloucester candlestick, now in the Kensington Museum, is a good example of the elaborate style of the twelfth-century metal work (Fig. 152). This is one of the most elaborate and intricate examples of ornamentation that could well be seen in the metal work of any period. Nothing could exceed the fanciful ingenuity of its design: it would, perhaps, have been better if some parts of the design had been left plainer, as a foil for the others. The material of its composition is a kind of white bronze, with a good proportion of silver in the alloy. [Illustration: Fig. 152.—Gloucester Candlestick; Twelfth Century. ] The churches of this century were, as a rule, furnished with large standing candlesticks or coronas for holding lights, many of which were of good design, were made of silver, and sometimes enamelled. The large seven-branched candlestick of the Cathedral of Milan—before mentioned—is an important work of this period, a copy of which is in the Kensington Museum. The material is gilt bronze, and the candlestick is over 14 feet in height; the design is extremely rich (Fig. 153), the base being composed of four winged dragons with voluted tails; the spaces between the dragons are filled with elaborate scroll-work, and symbolic subjects fill the volutes (Fig. 154). The lower boss is richly ornamented, but the other five are plain. Three pairs of graceful branches spring from the central stem to hold the lights. The whole design is a reminiscence of the Jewish seven-branched candlestick. One smaller in size is in the Brunswick Cathedral, and another one is at Essen. Censers, reliquaries, and shrines were made at this period in the shape of little churches (Fig. 155). The reliquaries contained the bones of saints or other precious relics. Sometimes they were made in the form of a human head, with a band or ribbon around it set with gems. This kind of reliquary was called a “chef”; one of this description is in the Cathedral at Bâsle. [Illustration: Fig. 153—Seven-Branched Candlestick in Milan Cathedral.]