From skeletons to strips of cloth to little pieces of dust, reliquaries can be found in many forms, and while sometimes they may seem grotesque on their surface, they are nonetheless invested with great spiritual and memorial value. In this book, Cynthia Hahn offers the first full survey in English of the societal value of reliquaries, showing how they commemorate religious and historical events and, more important, inspire awe, faith, and, for many, the miraculous.
Hahn looks deeply into the Christian tradition, examining relics and reliquaries throughout history and around the world, going from the earliest years of the cult of saints through to the post-Reformation response. She looks at relic footprints, incorrupt bodies, the Crown of Thorns, the Shroud of Turin, and many other renowned relics, and she shows how the architectural creation of sacred space and the evocation of the biblical tradition of the temple is central to the reliquary’s numinous power. She also discusses relics from other traditions—especially from Buddhism and Islam—and she even looks at how reliquaries figure in contemporary art. Fascinatingly illustrated throughout, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the enduring power of sacred objects.
Hahn looks deeply into the Christian tradition, examining relics and reliquaries throughout history and around the world, going from the earliest years of the cult of saints through to the post-Reformation response. She looks at relic footprints, incorrupt bodies, the Crown of Thorns, the Shroud of Turin, and many other renowned relics, and she shows how the architectural creation of sacred space and the evocation of the biblical tradition of the temple is central to the reliquary’s numinous power. She also discusses relics from other traditions—especially from Buddhism and Islam—and she even looks at how reliquaries figure in contemporary art. Fascinatingly illustrated throughout, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the enduring power of sacred objects.
304 pages | 65 color plates, 35 halftones | 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 | © 2017
Art: Art--General Studies
Religion: Religion and Society
Reviews
Table of 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