Relics are sacred materials customarily from the body of a holy person or a fragment of an object a holy person touched. They are believed to retain the power and sanctity of the original revered person, often Jesus or a saint. In the Middle Ages, elaborate and magnificent reliquaries (objects that house relics) were created for both sacred and private spaces.
‘Processional Cross’
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s sumptuous 12th-century “Processional Cross,” made in Asturias, Spain, conveys both luxury and spirituality with its liberal use of silver and gilding, as well as gems and antique intaglios set in gilded filigree bars. Traditionally, a processional cross takes center stage during liturgical processions. It is often hung above the altar when not in use, allowing it to be visible to the congregation.
On the front of “Processional Cross,” above the hammered golden halo of a crowned and triumphant Christ is a piece of rock crystal. This crystal covers a cavity which still holds an unidentifiable relic.
The reverse side of this processional cross reliquary is beautifully designed with fluid foliate motifs that meander horizontally and vertically, giving the composition a cyclic, balanced structure. The center of the cross shows the Lamb of God.
‘Arm Reliquary’
At The Met Cloisters there is a gallery called the “Treasury,” which displays small-scale, luxurious artworks made of precious materials reflecting great medieval artistic achievement. One of its displayed artworks, which would have been an important object in a contemporaneous church treasury, is a South Netherlandish “Arm Reliquary” from the 13th century. Composed of a gilt bronze hand and a silver arm over an oak base, the reliquary is richly decorated with fine gold filigree, gems, and plaques made of niello (a black compound of sulfur and silver inlaid on metal surfaces). The plaques portray a mixture of purely decorative patterns and figurative images, which include Saints Peter and Paul.
Pendant of the Holy Thorn
On a podcast episode from Les Enluminures, a gallery specializing in medieval and renaissance art, associate Kristen Racaniello explains the importance of amethysts in Christianity: It is the final foundation stone of heavenly Jerusalem as described by John in Revelation. Racaniello described how personal reliquary jewels were intended for one user. When it adorned a person’s body, it protected the wearer and provided literal contact with the holy relic.
These intimate, wearable reliquaries were often made of the same luxurious materials, such as gems, precious metals, and enamel, as larger reliquaries. The interior of “Reliquary Pendant of the Holy Thorn” reveals three leaves stacked like pages in a book. They are made of dazzling basse-taille enamel, a technique in which shallow wells are cut into a metal base. The enamel is laid in thin, translucent sheets which allows the metal to shine through. Each leaf in this reliquary pendant is divided into two sections, which depict biblical narratives including the Nativity, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, the Presentation in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, the Virgin and Child Enthroned, the Crucifixion, and the Descent from the Cross. In addition, there is a secular scene showing a praying king and queen.
According to Naomi Speakman, a curator at The British Museum, these figures may be the French royal couple King Philip VI and Jeanne de Bourgogne, conceivably identifiable due to the reliquary pendant’s date of creation and its Parisian manufacture. “The central leaf showing the Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds is a painted piece of vellum covered by rock crystal (imitating enamelwork) that conceals the relic of the Holy Thorn, topped with a small gold crown,” wrote Speakman in a catalogue note. A holy thorn from the Crown of Thorns, worn by Christ, was a celebrated medieval relic and is an example of a relic subcategory: Passion relics—objects that touched Christ at the time of the Passion.
