The Reliquary Effect
Enshrining the Sacred Object
Distributed for Reaktion Books
304 pages
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65 color plates, 35 halftones
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7 1/2 x 9 3/4
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© 2017
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction: The Eternal Relic
1 Relics and Reliquaries: Matter, Meaning, Multiplication
2 Objects of Infinite Power: Relics in Early Middle Ages
3 Reliquaries of the Late Medieval and Renaissance
4 The Reliquary After Trent: The Affective, the Collective
5 Relics Destroyed, Relics Returned, Relics Reinvented: The French Revolution, Napoleon, Celebrity, the Photograph
6 The Reliquary Effect: Contemporary Artists and Strategies of the Relic
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
1 Relics and Reliquaries: Matter, Meaning, Multiplication
2 Objects of Infinite Power: Relics in Early Middle Ages
3 Reliquaries of the Late Medieval and Renaissance
4 The Reliquary After Trent: The Affective, the Collective
5 Relics Destroyed, Relics Returned, Relics Reinvented: The French Revolution, Napoleon, Celebrity, the Photograph
6 The Reliquary Effect: Contemporary Artists and Strategies of the Relic
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Review Quotes
Art Newspaper
"[A] splendid book. . . . The Reliquary Effect sparkles with gorgeous pictures, and the text is deservedly full of epithets such as 'sumptious and spectacular,' 'rich and lavish,' 'lavish and extensive.' The objects under discussion were in most cases the most precious possessions of some of Europe’s most powerful individuals and institutions over more than a thousand years. . . . Hahn elegantly elides her discussion of Christian relics into an investigation of their secular equivalents. . . . A page-turner."
ACE/Mercers Book Awards, Runner-Up 2017
"A compelling examination of relics but mainly reliquaries and their cultural as well as spiritual impact from dust and ashes, to gilded splendors and the contemporary vitrines of Anselm Keifer and even the Vietnam monument by Maya Lin, as well as the hitherto un-probed religious aspects of Joseph Beuys and Paul Thek. . . . A pioneering book, originally argued, excellent in scope and beautifully produced; a book about containment that is perfectly contained."
Methodist Recorder
"In this stunningly beautiful book, with eighty five color plates, Hahn takes us on a journey that begins with the footprint of Christ from the Mount of Olives, a second-century footprint of the Buddha, a tracing of the Muhammad’s sandal, and a tenth-century silver, gold, and enamel portable altar containing the sandal of St Andrew . . . This is a book that hovers between the prayer desk and the coffee table!"
Anthropology Review Database
“As Hahn convincingly shows in her detailed and richly illustrated new book, the relics themselves have the predominant objects of interest over the years for scholars and worshippers alike, but the reliquaries are important and informative art and religious objects in their own right. . . . Beyond the details of medieval Christian art, Hahn’s book proves that the reliquary effect is a thriving force in social life, in the past, present, and future.”
Gerhard Lutz, curator of the Dommuseum Hildesheim
"Hahn has filled an important gap in scholarship. This book is the first to understand and analyze reliquaries as creations for the stimulation of attention and the capturing of desire. Hahn’s supreme knowledge and comprehensive approach enable her to look behind the surface of the reliquary, following its developments over time and drawing some sometimes surprising conclusions. As a contribution to the cross-cultural study of art, The Reliquary Effect shows how we can strengthen our understanding of the origins and foundations of our culture and those of others."
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