Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece Main Menu Explore All Objects by Location Explore All Objects by Material Explore all objects at the College of the Holy Cross All Objects

Priest Holding a Reliquary (MET 47.101.49)

39447
By Brooke Hendershott '23



This priest holds a reliquary tube containing a cloth-wrapped relic of the monk St. Macarius of Egypt. The tube is engraved with the text “The arm bone of Saint Macarius of Egypt” in Latin and bears remnants of enamel (colored glass that is fused to metal). French workshops that specialized in enamel decoration produced objects of high value, including reliquaries. Medieval Christians took the bones of saints and placed them in decorative containers to be venerated as relics and used in churches to enhance the sacredness of the space. Many crusaders took relics, like this one, home with them, and these relics were regularly wrapped in eastern Mediterranean silks.

This page has paths:

  1. Metal Brooke Hendershott
  2. Explore all objects at the College of the Holy Cross Brooke Hendershott
  3. All Objects Brooke Hendershott

Contents of this path:

  1. What is this?
  2. When was it made?
  3. Why was this made and how was it used?
  4. How was this made?
  5. Who made this?
  6. Where was this produced?
  7. Where did this go?
  8. What does this tell us about the Crusades?
  9. Sources and Further Reading

This page has tags:

  1. All Objects Brooke Hendershott
  2. Explore All Objects by Location Brooke Hendershott
  3. Metal Brooke Hendershott

This page references: