Reliquary Bust
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The anonymous sculptor crafted this reliquary out of polychromed wood; meaning, wood painted in many different colors. The effect seen here is a wood that mimics ancient marble. The sculpture is also made from gilded wood, made from a technique that used oil, water, or fire to apply gold to the sculpture. The sculptor also carved out an opening at the top of the head, which works similar to a door that allowed individuals to access the relic contained inside the sculpture, The reliquary is in the form of a bust, which is a sculpture of the subject’s head, shoulders, and upper chest. The subject, who appears to be an aristocratic woman, wears a traditional Flemish headdress typical of the sixteenth century. Her hair is both braided and loose, which may represent the style of unmarried virgins (Hall, 143; Ferguson, 64). She is also wearing a pendant, which could very well be a rosary, which illustrates the figure’s devotion to the Virgin Mary.
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This wooden sculpture was made to appeal to Catholic pilgrims and locals, who likely visited the church or monastery so that they could pray at the shrine of this saint. The people that went and prayed to places with well-known reliquaries believed that relics had sacred connections to saints, and therefore it was easier for a prayer or plea to arrive to God. Many different artisans could have been involved in manufacturing this reliquary. Although it is unknown who the sculptor was for this particular piece, it is very widely known that one of the most famous sculptors of this region, Clus Slutter of Haarlem, was a member of the Brussels carvers and masons’ guild in the late fourteenth century, and Brussels was a fairly important city where artisans and sculptors trained and worked to make sculptures (Jacobs, “Belgium”). The making of this particular sculpture probably required painters for the polychrome wood, wood carvers, and gilders to create that thin layer of gold on the sculpture.
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Today we still have many reliquaries, where relics can be found and safely kept in churches, to which pilgrims regularly travel. Relics like the Shroud of Turin, which is in the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in Turin,is the perfect example of the type of fame that one relic can provide for a church. The Shroud attracts thousands of pilgrims each year, and even today this shroud is the one of the Christian world’s most precious relics since it is a piece of fabric that was supposedly used to wrap Jesus when he was taken down from the cross. Another example of a reliquary is the one that holds the bones of the apostle Saint James of Compostela. This relic is can be found in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, and it draws millions of pilgrims each year for the purposes of prayer and penance for sins (Fernandez, “Santiago de Compostela”).
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The Reliquary of Saint Barbara
Saint Godelieve
(c. 1050-1070)
Saint Godelieve, the only female martyr to be married and yet still recognized by a medieval pope as a saint (Venarde, “The Life of Saint Godelieve”), was born around the late 1040s and early 1050s into the nobility of Londefort-lez-Boulogne in France. Saint Godelieve is described as having had dark hair, dark eyebrows, and very pale skin, which was considered to be attractive. She is also described as being a very sympathetic girl whom everyone loved because of her genuinely good personality. The story goes that Saint Godelieve and a man by the name of Bertolf were about to get married, but Bertolf never showed up and yet his mother proceeded with the celebration. Bertolf returned three days later, but refrained himself from getting close to his wife. Bertolf then left his wife at home and conspired to mistreat her by starving her to rob her of her beauty. Saint Godelieve fled to her father’s home. Her father then received counsel from Count Baldwin, who referred him to the local Bishop. The Bishop then forced Bertolf to return to his wife. Bertolf, however, plotted again to kill Godelieve by sending his servants to do the job for him. They strangle Godelieve to death and her body is placed back into bed as if she had passed away peacefully in her sleep of natural causes (Hans, “Master of the Legend of St Godelieve”). Today, Saint Godelieve is a celebrated in many places, including Belgium, where the LACMA object was sculptured about five centuries after Saint Godelieve’s death.
Works Cited
Decavele, Johan et al. "Belgium." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T007414pg4>.
Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Fernández-Armesto, Felipe and S. Moralejo. "Santiago de Compostela." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 27 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T075888>.
Green, Malcolm et al. "Gilding." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T032215>.
Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. New York: Harper and Row, 1974.
Jacobs, Lynn F., et al. "Belgium." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T007414pg4>.
Krén, Emil. "Portrait of Anne of Cleves." HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger. Web Gallery of Art, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1535h/04cleves.html>.
Olsen, Glenn W. "Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology." The Catholic Historical Review 88.2 (2002): 319-25.
Osborne, Harold, et al. "gilding." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Edited by Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e1042>.
Penny, Nicholas. "Bust." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T012680>.
"polychrome." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t4/e1335>.
Schmidt, Hans M. et al. "Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T055065pg226>.
Szczepkowska-Naliwajek, Kinga et al. "Reliquary." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T071338>.
Venarde, Bruce L., trans. "The Life of Godlieve." Edited by Thomas Head. Life of Godelieve in Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology. Monastic Matrix, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://monasticmatrix.osu.edu/cartularium/life-godelieve>.
Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Fernández-Armesto, Felipe and S. Moralejo. "Santiago de Compostela." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 27 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T075888>.
Green, Malcolm et al. "Gilding." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T032215>.
Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. New York: Harper and Row, 1974.
Jacobs, Lynn F., et al. "Belgium." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T007414pg4>.
Krén, Emil. "Portrait of Anne of Cleves." HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger. Web Gallery of Art, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/h/holbein/hans_y/1535h/04cleves.html>.
Olsen, Glenn W. "Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology." The Catholic Historical Review 88.2 (2002): 319-25.
Osborne, Harold, et al. "gilding." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Edited by Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e1042>.
Penny, Nicholas. "Bust." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T012680>.
"polychrome." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t4/e1335>.
Schmidt, Hans M. et al. "Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T055065pg226>.
Szczepkowska-Naliwajek, Kinga et al. "Reliquary." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T071338>.
Venarde, Bruce L., trans. "The Life of Godlieve." Edited by Thomas Head. Life of Godelieve in Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology. Monastic Matrix, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://monasticmatrix.osu.edu/cartularium/life-godelieve>.