Relics & reliquaries
type: CreativeWork
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Assemblage (Art)
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Personal belongings
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Objets personnels
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Assemblage (Art)
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/310220966
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320126907
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320127679
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320127714
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320129246
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320130276
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320131152
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320131587
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320131959
abstract: "Since the early days of the Christian Church, the reverently preserved earthly remnants of saints and martyrs have been known as 'relics,' from the Latin term reliquiae, meaning 'remains.' But it is not only a Christian practice to honor such things. Relics of the Buddha, including his teeth, hairs, and particles from his cremated ashes, are preserved in domed stupa shrines. Likewise, relics of the Prophet Mohammad--including a tooth, a hair from his beard, and the impression of his footprint--have been similarly honored. And there are holy political relics: a locket of George Washington's hair is displayed at Mt. Vernon, Virginia; Abraham Lincoln's blood-stained deathbed sheets are kept at Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C.; Napoleon Bonaparte's 'mummified tendon' (withered penis) is proudly enshrined in the private collection of a urologist. In the Communist world, the mummified bodies of Lenin and Mao are kept on public display in a state of perfect preservation. As well, relics of pop-culture icons--like the bed sheets the Beatles slept on, or Elvis' sweaty scarves and locks of his hair--are covetously collected and kept holy. [...] Relics have inspired artists throughout the centuries to create masterworks of art to safeguard them. [...] Reliquaries--also known as monstrances, ostensoriums, custodials, chasses, ossuaries, philatories, tecas, and capsules--are boxes or containers used to hold relics. They are often objects of tremendous craftsmanship, gilded and ornately decorated. Reliquaries were originally sealed, coffin-shaped coffers; later, glass-fronted versions were produced, making the relics inside visible to pilgrims. The interiors of reliquaries are often richly upholstered, with the relics reverently placed upon velvet pillows. A structure built to house a reliquary is called a martyria or Schatzkammer, and its architecture often echoes the shape of the reliquary within. [...] Since early childhood I have been an obsessive collector, verging on neoto…
author: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/310220966
contributor: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/311220969
creator: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/310220966
language: eng
name: Relics and reliquaries
work example: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/301327325

PropertyValue
property ID: NL-AmRIJ
value: 327325