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[ Label. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ]

Christ appears in the center of the principal face of the reliquary beneath the roof plaque, which depicts the hand of God flanked by two angels swinging censers. Distinguished by his cruciform nimbus, he holds a book in his left hand and raises his right hand in blessing; the Greek letters alpha and omega, symbolizing the eternity of God, are at either side. At his right is a female saint identified as "Maria" (Mary Magdalene), who clasps an unguent jar and a palm frond. To Christ's left is a bearded male saint identified as "Marcialis" (Martial), the first bishop of Limoges, who also raises his right hand in blessing. Saint Peter, holding the red-enameled keys to the kingdom of heaven, and another saint, probably Paul, appear on the end panels. At the upper and lower corners of the reverse stand the four symbols of the Evangelists, clasping their Gospel texts (or, in the case of the eagle of Saint John, a scroll) in hooves, talons, claws, or veiled hands. Each of the symbolic figures turns his head to the center of the panels, which have richly worked foliate decoration springing, in the case of the lower panel, from fantastic beasts with human faces.



The chasse comes from the church of Saint-Martial, Champagnat in the diocese of Limoges, where Martial was considered the thirteenth apostle of Christ.





[ Label. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ] Accession Number: 17.190.905. On view in Gallery 306. Saint Catherine, depicted in the delicately jeweled statuette, was seen to embody the power of Christian erudition. According to legend, Saint Catherine's learned arguments on behalf of Christianity converted not only the court philosophers of the pagan emperor Maxentius, but 200 guardian soldiers and the ruler's wife as well. In retribution, all were put to death. The virtuous saint is shown holding the spiked wheel upon which she was tortured before being decapitated. Though the statue is reputed to have come from a convent in Clermont-Ferrand, the fine workmanship, sensitive modeling, and precious gem-studded decoration are consistent with the finest works produced in Paris. The image may have come from a reliquary, where it and figures of other saints would have been integrated into an architectural ensemble.

[ Label. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ] Accession Number: 17.190.813. On view in Gallery 306. The core of this opulent reliquary contains a large late twelfth-century rock crystal with engraved vine scroll patterns from the Meuse Valley (present-day Belgium). It was said to have once held relics of Saints Margaret, Philip the Apostle, and Catherine as well as of Bishop Valerius. The present neo-Gothic setting may reflect the original reliquary form.

[ Label. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ] Accession Number: 17.190.352a, b. On view in Gallery 304.



Saint Yrieix, whose skull was once contained in this reliquary, was the sixth-century founder of a monastery in the town south of Limoges that now bears his name. A special veneration of reliquaries in the form of the heads of local saints developed in the Limoges region during the Middle Ages, a devotion that continues to the present day. On feast days the image would have been carried in procession through the streets and then placed on the altar for veneration by the faithful.



The silver image originally covered a wooden core, which is exhibited nearby. Though carefully carved, it was not originally intended to be seen, but to give shape to and to provide support for the precious metal sheathing. Once the skull was set in place this wooden core, though sensitively carved, would have been completely obscured by sheets of silver. The precious material evoked the saint’s heavenly countenance, while the skull imparted a sense of his abiding authority.





[ Label. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ] Accession Number: 47.101.33. On view in Gallery 014.

This container for the precious remains of a saint adopts the form of the relics it likely once held—fragments of a saint’s arm. When the reliquary was set on an altar, the sacred bones could be perceived in the two windows, once covered with crystal, which are cut into the silver. When carried in procession, the imposing image of the saint’s arm raised in blessing could be seen easily by the faithful, even from a distance. The rich combination of materials used for the sleeve of the saint’s vestment typifies goldsmith’s work produced in the Meuse Valley, now a part of modern Belgium, and is related to the style of Brother Hugo of Oignies, a celebrated thirteenth-century artist.

[ Label. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ] Accession Number: 17.190.523. Not on view. This chasse served as a container for saints’ relics—often bones or pieces of cloth. The chasse depicts Christ in Majesty surrounded by saints on the lower front and the Lamb of God, emblematic of Jesus, flanked by angels on the sloping roof. Access to the sacred contents was through the locked door on one end. It shows Saint Peter, called by Jesus to be the keeper of the keys of heaven, as the guardian of the box’s holy relics.



Note the wonderfully varied designs of the columns and the saints’ haloes, the exceptional translucent red, the scrolling pattern of the gilded ground, and the blue enamel that defines hair, brows, digits, and sinews. The design of the back simulates a costly silk textile.