Timeline of Art History

Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity

All relics bestowed honor and privileges upon the possessor, and monasteries and cathedrals sought to hold the most prestigious. Some relics were even stolen from one church, only to find a new home in another.
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Reliquary Bust of Saint Juliana, Giovanni di Bartolo  Italian, Copper, gilding, gesso, and tempera paint, Italian
Giovanni di Bartolo
ca. 1376
Reliquary Bust of Saint Balbina, Oak, with paint and gilding, and human remains, South Netherlandish
South Netherlandish
ca. 1520–30
Reliquary in the Shape of a Sarcophagus, Marble, Byzantine
Byzantine
400–600
Chasse with the Crucifixion and Christ in Majesty, Copper: engraved, chiseled, stippled, and gilt; champlevé enamel: dark, medium, and light blue; turquoise, dark and light green, yellow, red, and white; wood core, painted red on exterior, French
French
ca. 1180–90
Arm Reliquary, Silver, silver-gilt, glass and rock crystal cabochons over wood core, French
French
13th century, with 15th century additions
Reliquary of Mary Magdalene, Gilded copper, gilded silver, rock crystal, verre églomisé, and a tooth (possibly human), North Italian
North Italian
14th and 15th century
Reliquary Cross, Silver gilt, rock crystal, glass cabochons, and possible human remains; wood core, French
French
ca. 1180
Reliquary Cross, Translucent enamel, silver, silver-gilt, rock crystal, glass, iron tang, Italian
Italian
ca. 1366–1400
The Fieschi Morgan Staurotheke, Gilded silver, gold, enamel worked in cloisonné, and niello, Byzantine
Byzantine
early 9th century
Reliquary Cross with Saint George, Copper alloy, Byzantine
Byzantine
800–1300
Bursa Reliquary, Bone, paint, copper gilt, iron brads, and sycamore wood, North Italian
North Italian
10th century
Panel with San Millán, Master Engelram and his son Redolfo  Spanish, Elephant ivory, with glass inlay, Spanish
Master Engelram and his son Redolfo
1060–80
Oliphant, Elephant ivory, metal mounts, South Italian
South Italian
12th century
Chasse of Champagnat, Copper: engraved and gilt; champlevé enamel: blue-black, medium blue, turquoise, green, red, and white, French
French
ca. 1150
Reliquary Pendant with Queen Margaret of Sicily Blessed by Bishop Reginald of Bath, Gold, British
British
1174–77
Reliquary Casket with Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket, Gilded silver with niello and a glass cabochon set over a tinted foil, British
British
ca. 1173–80
Arm Reliquary, Silver, gilded silver, niello, and gems; wood core, South Netherlandish
South Netherlandish
ca. 1230
Scenes from the Legend of Saint Vincent of Saragossa and the History of His Relics, Pot-metal glass, vitreous paint, and lead, French
French
ca. 1245–47
Reliquary Bust of Saint Yrieix, Silver and gilded silver with rock crystal, gems, and glass, French
French
ca. 1220–40, with later grill
Reliquary Shrine, Jean de Touyl  French, Gilded silver, translucent enamel, paint, French
Jean de Touyl
ca. 1325–50
Pilgrim's Badge of the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury, Cast tin-lead alloy, British
British
1350–1400
Standing Bishop, Hans von Reutlingen or Workshop German, Silver and silver gilt, German
Hans von Reutlingen
ca. 1510

Christian belief in the power of relics, the physical remains of a holy site or holy person, or objects with which they had contact, is as old as the faith itself and developed alongside it. Relics were more than mementos. The New Testament refers to the healing power of objects that were touched by Christ or his apostles. The body of the saint provided a spiritual link between life and death, between man and God: “Because of the grace remaining in the martyr, they were an inestimable treasure for the holy congregation of the faithful.” Fueled by the Christian belief in the afterlife and resurrection, in the power of the soul, and in the role of saints as advocates for humankind in heaven, the veneration of relics in the Middle Ages came to rival the sacraments in the daily life of the medieval church. Indeed, from the time of Charlemagne, it was obligatory that every altar contain a relic.

The holiest of relics were those associated with Christ and his mother. Because of the belief in the resurrection of Christ and the bodily assumption of the Virgin into heaven, physical relics of Christ and the Virgin were—with a few rare exceptions, like the baby teeth of Jesus or the Virgin’s milk—usually objects that they touched in their lifetime, such as the wood from the True Cross (17.190.715ab; ) or pieces of the Virgin’s veil. The most common relics are associated with the apostles and those local saints renowned for the working of miracles across Europe. All relics bestowed honor and privileges upon the possessor; monasteries and cathedrals sought to obtain the prestigious relics, and when they succeeded, their proud accomplishment is sometimes celebrated in the decoration of their sanctuaries (). Some relics were even stolen from one church, only to find a new home in another, those of Saint Mark in Venice, Saint Nicholas in Bari on the Adriatic coast, or Saint Foy at Conques being among the most famous examples.

Reliquaries
Reliquaries are the containers that store and display relics. Since the relics themselves were considered “more valuable than precious stones and more to be esteemed than gold,” it was considered only appropriate that they be enshrined in vessels, or reliquaries, crafted of or covered by gold, silver, ivory, gems, and enamel. These precious objects constituted a major form of artistic production across Europe and Byzantium throughout the Middle Ages.

Medieval reliquaries frequently assume the form of caskets (chasses) (; 17.190.685–87, .695, .710–.711), but complex containers in the form of parts of the body, usually mimicking the relics they enshrined (), are one of the most remarkable art forms created in the Middle Ages for the precious remains of saints. Reliquaries were often covered with narrative scenes from the life of saints, whose remains may have been contained within (; ). Sometimes the decoration of chasses was not specific to any given saint or community but rather reflected common Christian themes, making them appropriate to the use of any community (). Reliquaries were also fashioned into full-body statues, or more abbreviated, but still imposing, bust-length images of saints, often those with local reputations of great authority (), including revered women saints (). Set on an altar and carried in procession, their arrival sometimes heralded by the sounding of ivory horns (), these highly decorated works of art made an indelible impression on the faithful. The distinction between the meaning of an image such as the famous Reliquary Statue of Sainte-Foy, still preserved at the monastery of Conques in France, and pagan idols was clearly articulated in an important chronicle written by Bernard of Angers in the eleventh century: “It is not an impure idol that receives the worship of an oracle or of sacrifice, it is a pious memorial, before which the faithful heart feels more easily and more strongly touched by solemnity, and implores more fervently the powerful intercession of the saint for its sins.” By the end of the Middle Ages, image reliquaries, which traditionally were meant to suggest a saint’s heavenly form and visage, came to mirror contemporary ideas of beauty (). Meanwhile, the relics themselves, once hidden within the container, could be glimpsed through apertures or vials of rock crystal (; ; ).

Reliquaries were sometimes created expressly for privileged individuals () or purchased by them (). The faithful of humble means might still acquire a souvenir badge at the shrines of saints that called to mind the precious works of art associated with them (). Whether created for a church or for a private individual, medieval reliquaries have been subject to widespread destruction during times of religious and political strife. Those that survive bear precious witness to exceptional artistic creativity inspired by contemporary faith.


Contributors

Barbara Drake Boehm
Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

originally published October 2001, last revised April 2011


Further Reading

Abou-El-Haj, Barbara. The Medieval Cult of Saints: Formations and Transformations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Bagnoli, Martina, et al., eds. Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010.

Geary, Patrick J. Furta sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages. Rev. ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.

Os, Henk W. van. The Way to Heaven: Relic Veneration in the Middle Ages. Exhibition catalogue. Baarn: De Prom, 2000.

Sheingorn, Pamela, trans. The Book of Sainte Foy. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995.


Citation

View Citations

Boehm, Barbara Drake. “Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm (originally published October 2001, last revised April 2011)