Reliquary Bust
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Made in Flanders, Brabant in circa 1510, this object is a reliquary sculpture of an unknown woman, most likely a saint. A reliquary is an object that contains saints’ relics, or the material remains of saints. It is typically built to conceal and protect relics, and the reliquary is usually in the shape of the relic contained within it. Reliquaries were objects associated with the intense religious devotion of ordinary Christians, who wished to have direct contact with the saints in heaven. Christians believed that such reliquaries allowed them to make “direct calls” to the saints, who would be able to respond to their pleas. This type of object is largely transcultural: reliquaries can be found in the Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and even Buddhist traditions. Reliquaries were important for many churches and monasteries, since the relics contained within them drew many pilgrims to these places. The pilgrims that came to these sites prayed to the saints and their reliquaries in the hopes they would intercede on their behalf. This particular reliquary measures about a foot-and-a-half in height and about a little more than one foot in length. This reliquary is now housed, and can be seen by many, on the third floor of the Ahmanson Building at the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA). This object interested me, from the first time I heard about it, because it was the only reliquary at the museum.
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Made in Flanders, Brabant, circa 1510
Sculpture :Polychromed and gilded wood with hinged, fabric-lined lid on top of head
16 × 15 × 7 in. (40.64 × 38.1 × 17.78 cm) unspecified (unspecified): 16 1/2 x 15 x 7 in. (41.91 x 38.1 x 17.78 cm) unspecified (unspecified): 16 1/2 x 15 x 7 in. (41.91 x 38.1 x 17.78 cm)
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Placard of the Reliquary Bust
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Pictured at LACMA on the third floor at the Ahmanson Building
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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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Santiago de Compostela Reliquary, as seen in the eyes of José María Rodríguez de Losada in 1886
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
Reliquary Bust of Saint Barbara Workshop of Niclaus Gerhaert von Leyden Overall: 19 7/8 x 17 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (50.5 x 44.5 x 27.6 cm)
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This reliquary of Saint Barbara, which can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, was manufactured circa 1465 in Strasbourg, Germany. Made out of walnut, it is gilded and polychromed, as the wood mimics ancient marble much like the reliquary bust found at LACMA. Saint Barbara wears a crown to commemorate her martyrdom and victory over sin and death (Ferguson 296), and she is holding a tower with three windows, which is what is typically attributed to her. The tower with three windows represents the part of her legend in which she demands that a tower, symbolic of her chastity, being built for her have three windows instead of two. The three windows signified the Holy Trinity and Barbara’s conversion to Christianity, for which she is persecuted, judged, and decapitated by her own father (Hall, 306). Saint Barbara’s hair is loose around her shoulders, signifying her virginity and unmarried state. The artisan that made this sculpture likely used the same techniques that the anonymous sculptor used to make the reliquary bust at LACMA. They are both polychromed and glided, though it is unknown what type of wood was used for the LACMA object. The hair of both the reliquary bust of Saint Barbara and the LACMA object are arranged somewhat differently, as the Saint Barbara bust has her hair fully loose and down and the LACMA object has her hair both loose in the front and braided in the back. A major difference is that the hands Saint Barbara’s hands are shown because it is important to depict her with her well-known attributes (the tower with the three windows representing the Holy Trinity), whereas the LACMA object does not have such a detail.
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Saint Godelieve
(c. 1050-1070)
Master of the Legend of St Godelieve: The Life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve (interior), oil on wood, 1251×3110 mm, 15th century (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1912, Accession ID: 12.79); photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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>.
