While relics were the focus of spiritual devotion of the faithful, reliquaries functioned as vessels for preservation of these physical remains of saints. Storage function aside, reliquaries also served to protect the holy relics as bones of saints were priceless compared with the intricately crafted containers made out of precious materials that held them.
Power of Relics
Physical remains of a person or a site deemed holy were crucial to the prestige and prosperity of a cathedral, church or monastery for they attracted pilgrims. Objects associated with saints were believed to emanate the spiritual power possessed by the saint during his or her martyrdom or miraculous acts. Praying to a relic of a saint would ensure that holy person’s intervention in favour of the mortal believer before God.
Reliquary Design and Style
The use of reliquaries dates back to the 4th century. Their style, size and shape developed over centuries from simple casket-shaped shrines through miniature architectural models of a church to elaborate jewellery pieces like pendants or rings to life-size effigies or tombs called arcae.
Richly bejewelled cross-shaped reliquaries introduced in the 9th century, known as relics of the True Cross, were immensely popular through their association with the cross that Jesus was crucified on. In the 10th century, reliquary design began to imitate the shape of body parts held within the container. The degree of elaborate decoration and use of precious materials in a reliquary enhaced the significance and value of a relic.
Tomb Chests
Reliquaries were designed so as to enable the pilgrims a close viewing and were displayed prominently within ecclesiastical buildings or processions. Arcae were commonly positioned in a spacious area of a church and often set relatively low, so that the viewers were able to circle around them and read relief narratives of the celebrated saint's life.
Sculptors designed arcae to contain a full length of a saint's body as a free standing tomb chest so that the devout could walk around them and, if permitted, to touch them for purposes of healing and veneration. They were often complemented with narrative scenes depicting important episodes of the saint’s life.To allow viewing the narratives on the chest, tombs were often set on a platform.
Portable Reliquaries
Portability was an important aspect of their design complementing the rituals of Christian liturgy. The rite of veneration peaked on the holy days and on the saint’s day when a reliquary would have been displayed in public or carried in a ceremonial procession.The design had to be flexible enough for reliquaries to be relocated within a church in keeping with liturgical calendar as necessary. Depending on the religious occasion they had to be able to be transferred to an altar or pulpit.
Reliquary Design Intensified Spiritual Experience
The belief in the healing power of relics necessitated the display function of reliquaries so that they could be easily accessed, viewed, even touched.The positioning and design of the reliquary thus enabled the believers to carry out their devotions in close proximity to the relic. The devout is thus encouraged to establish a more personal relationship with the saint who would intervene for the praying before God and to intensify his or her spiritual experience.
Widespread use and popularity of relics was regarded as blasphemy by reformationist branches of Christianity. In their view, there was a thin line between relics and pagan idols and veneration of relics presented the danger of idolatry. As a consequence, relics and reliquaries were condemned as idolatruous and destroyed in the Northern Europe during the Reformation of the 16th century.
Sources:
- Diana Norman: Siena, Florence and Padua: Art, Society and Religion 1280 - 1400, Yale University Press, 1995
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