Reliquaries

About the Reliquary:

The first object is a reliquary of Mary Magdalene. In the 13th century, people were deeply invested in building beautiful displays for relics. This coincides with the design of this reliquary. This monstrance for the relics of Mary Magdalene is a simple object that both protects the small relics and displays them to the public. The cylindrical vessel is transparent, made of crystal or glass, framed with an elegant architectural design with a cross on top. 

The component of this that directly ties to the theme of fragmentation is the relics, as people intentionally fragmented them. The relics that the reliquary contained often stemmed from a saint’s body, such as pieces of bones or hair. Often times, people wrapped the relics and precious silks when keeping them in the transparent centerpiece (Relics 2016). This fact - that relics are actual remains of Saints that people intentionally took from their bodies - drew many people to churches that could secure the relics. For example, in Charlemagne’s Courtier, when Ratlieg brought home the relics of St. Peter and Marcellinus, this pulled many individuals towards the relics (Einhard 78). Furthermore, religious organizations would often vie for these relics, and take partial remains from one another. Thus, over time, many of these relics got scattered across a variety of Churches, despite all beginning in a single place. So, in this case, it is not the reliquary object that people fragmented, but the underlying object that it contained, and that it symbolized to common observers. This fragmentation meant that one could find these reliquaries across Europe, since they could find relics in a variety of locations as well. By bringing together these different objects through this exhibit, we can see the wide array of designs and techniques used to display the revered relics.