12021-11-03T13:49:48-07:00When was it made?21plain2022-12-22T08:16:43-08:00By Brooke Hendershott '23
This statue was made c. 1250-1275, the contained relic dates to the 4th century, and the fabric around the relic is undated. The statue's dating is derived from its similarities to other French reliquaries made at this time. The relic tube bears remnants of a kind of enamel that was at the height of its popularity in the late 1200s. The base of the statue also bears a striking resemblance to another reliquary base from the same time and place, also in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
12021-11-03T13:51:23-07:00Where was this produced?17plain2023-01-13T07:03:04-08:00By Brooke Hendershott '23
This statue was made in Northern France, with its relic nominally from North Africa, and the relic's fine textile wrapping made somewhere in North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, or possibly Spain. The iconography present in the statue and its carvings are French Gothic.
The priest has the tonsured hair of medieval monks. This specific tonsure has a shaved circle at the top of the head, which was a Latin Catholic practice that would have been concentrated in western Europe, including France.
French Gothic style is also present on the statue's base. The base has cutout quatrefoils (four petaled flowers) on its faces, a motif present in many French Gothic sculptures and architecture. It is also carved with leaves and vines, another pattern often used by Gothic designers. Finally, there are mythical beasts and lion feet at the bottom of the base, common in other French reliquaries and bases at the time, as seen in this comparable base from the Boston MFA's collection.
Finally, the relic tube uses champlevé enamel. This technique was developed in France in the 12th century.
