Divine Artistry: The Power of Materiality and Craft in Statuette and Arm Reliquaries of the Holy Roman Empire Jake L. Swartz Faculty mentors: Leisa Rundquist, Laurel Taylor, and Rodger Payne University of North Carolina at Asheville
Statuette and arm reliquaries held unique significance within the Holy Roman Empire. Reliquaries existed as symbols of economic, religious, and political power. Containing the remains of saints, these ornate boxes were beautifully decorated to reflect the power of their associated saint. Often these decorations required complex expensive materials and techniques to create potent images that portrayed biblical figures or events. These gilded feretories sat atop altars in palaces and cathedrals as they were often used in pilgrimage and other devotional practices, along with being traded and collected by elites. In many cases leaders often kept reliquaries close at hand as power from reliquaries came from their proximity. Building upon existing research, this paper seeks to address an unrecognized power in reliquaries that focuses on the political and cosmological resonance in the elaborately adorned container rather than the relic inside.
Jake Swartz is a dual major of art history and anthropology from Cary, North Carolina. He hopes to work in an art museum for a year before moving onto graduate school to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in archaeology.
