The art historians have traditionally considered St. Wenceslas Chapel of St. Vitus' Cathedral in Prague Castle the image of Heavenly Jerusalem. This theory proved legitimate also in the study discussing the symbolism of the precious stones incrustation adorning the cycle of paintings of the Redemption story in the lower part of all the chapel walls. The identification of precious stones with Christ, with the saints and martyrs does not, however, exclude the possibility that the chapel was meant as a reliquary. It is therefore necessary to search for new parallels in medieval literature and art to the precious stones adorning the chapel to be able to endorse the former or the latter theory, or, eventually, look for a new explanation.

Suppose we prefer to regard the chapel as an image of Heavenly Jerusalem; this presumption offers a comparison with the depictions of the precious stones on Heavenly Jerusalem in medieval book painting, i.e. the art discipline most closely connected with written tradition.

Not all the illustrations of Heavenly Jerusalem represent the precious stones. If they do, Heavenly Jerusalem is decorated either with the twelve stones mentioned in the Revelation (or with their names), or with a number of stones covering the area of the city and not forming any pattern or motif. In the chapel we do not find twelve panels cut out of twelve different precious stones, but a number of stone discs of mere three varieties. Moreover, only exceptionally do the precious stones discs not form a particular shape on the walls of the chapel; mostly they are set in the shape of a cross.

Same as we do not find the image of a cross in the medieval illuminations, we do not see any picture resembling the passion cycle in St. Wenceslas Chapel in any way. This study, therefore, does not lead us to the final conclusion con­cerning the conception of the chapel, since the possibility of it being a reliquary remains open.