CategoriesAntiquities, Artifacts, and Religious Objects
Reliquary
Containers made to hold and honour relics of holy figures, from medieval gold shrines and enamelled caskets to Buddhist relic vessels.
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About
Christians began venerating the bones of saints and martyrs in late antiquity, and by the Middle Ages relics drew pilgrims across Europe. Their containers were made from the most precious materials available. The gold-covered seated figure of Sainte Foy at Conques, made around the 10th century, holds the saint's skull. Nicholas of Verdun and his workshop made the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne, a church-shaped chest of gilded silver and enamel, and Limoges workshops sent out smaller enamelled caskets across Europe. Some reliquaries take the shape of what they hold, such as an arm or a head, and many have windows of rock crystal so the relic can be seen.
Kings also built for relics: Louis IX raised the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris to house the Crown of Thorns. Buddhists enshrined relics of the Buddha in stupas, inside nested caskets of stone, crystal and gold.