Reliquary
ca. 1500-1520 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The bones and possessions associated with Christ and the saints are known as relics. In the Middle Ages and later they were believed to have miraculous powers and were greatly venerated.
The relics were kept in special containers, called reliquaries, whose costly materials and beautiful workmanship reflected the importance of their contents. The relics themselves are occasionally visible, set beneath crystal windows and wrapped in a parchment tag with the name of the saint. Cathedrals and major churches accumulated reliquaries and displayed them on or near the high altar on major holy days.
Here, an elegant Gothic architectural structure in miniature supports the now empty relic-holder. This shape of reliquary, in which the relic is the focal point, became fashionable all over Europe from around 1400, but the fleshy embossed foliage is more typical of Spanish work of around 1500–50.
The relics were kept in special containers, called reliquaries, whose costly materials and beautiful workmanship reflected the importance of their contents. The relics themselves are occasionally visible, set beneath crystal windows and wrapped in a parchment tag with the name of the saint. Cathedrals and major churches accumulated reliquaries and displayed them on or near the high altar on major holy days.
Here, an elegant Gothic architectural structure in miniature supports the now empty relic-holder. This shape of reliquary, in which the relic is the focal point, became fashionable all over Europe from around 1400, but the fleshy embossed foliage is more typical of Spanish work of around 1500–50.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver-gilt |
| Brief description | Silver-gilt reliquary, Barcelona, ca. 1500 - 1520. |
| Physical description | Tubular glass container for the relic under a canopy formed like a slender pierced and crocketted Gothic spire. Six sided knop. Elongated eight lobed foot drawn up in the centre to form the stem; the lobes have blunt points execpt the ones at each side which are oval. The foot is divided into triangular panels embossed with foliage. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Dr W.L. Hildburgh Bequest |
| Summary | The bones and possessions associated with Christ and the saints are known as relics. In the Middle Ages and later they were believed to have miraculous powers and were greatly venerated. The relics were kept in special containers, called reliquaries, whose costly materials and beautiful workmanship reflected the importance of their contents. The relics themselves are occasionally visible, set beneath crystal windows and wrapped in a parchment tag with the name of the saint. Cathedrals and major churches accumulated reliquaries and displayed them on or near the high altar on major holy days. Here, an elegant Gothic architectural structure in miniature supports the now empty relic-holder. This shape of reliquary, in which the relic is the focal point, became fashionable all over Europe from around 1400, but the fleshy embossed foliage is more typical of Spanish work of around 1500–50. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.289-1956 |
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| Record created | May 31, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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